Course content

The course addresses key questions and challenges related to safeguarding and strengthening democratic preparedness and resilience in society. A democratic society is based on knowledge, trust, participation, and democratic values. It also requires a population with the willingness and ability to actively exercise citizenship. What threatens the democratic community, and how can we identify and counter these threats?

Knowledge, trust, democratic values, and participation are broad themes, yet they are core concepts for building democratic resilience — a civil democratic defense with the competence to identify threats to democracy and human rights. Knowledge, trust, democratic values, and participation are therefore essential prerequisites for overall societal security. As our most important shared arena, schools play a central role in educating and shaping new generations of citizens in a democratic culture. Furthermore, democratic preparedness and resilience must be developed across all parts of society, making it relevant to discuss civil society and community on various levels — from local to national, and further to international communities and transnational networks in which our society participates.

The teaching consists of lectures and student-led seminars organized into four modules. Together, the modules cover a range of perspectives and relevant topics in national and international research on and for democracy. The course will include a set of core readings and a selection of optional in-depth literature for work on the student’s own research question.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The candidate:

• Has in-depth and up-to-date insight into the development of theoretical and didactic perspectives on democracy and citizenship
• Has comprehensive and current knowledge of different forms of citizenship and how these influence democratic culture, participation, preparedness, and resilience
• Can contribute to new knowledge about the role of science and education in democratic communities

Skills

The candidate:

• Can apply relevant research in democratic didactics to formulate research questions for their own project
• Can conduct complex analyses of potential challenges to democracy
• Can apply and assess complex understandings of what citizenship is and can be in the analysis of different communities

General competence

The candidate:

• Can identify new relevant academic and ethical research problems related to democratic preparedness and resilience in education and society
• Can assess their own research’s contribution to democratic preparedness and resilience in society
• Can communicate and disseminate key aspects of democracy and citizenship and participate in public debate

Learning methods and activities

The course’s teaching consists of lectures and student-led seminars organized into four modules across two sessions. Modules 1 and 2 address fundamental didactic aspects for democratic resilience from a security and preparedness perspective. Modules 3 and 4 introduce relevant and current research and enable varied theoretical and empirical deep dives relevant to the candidate’s project.

Module topics:

1. Relevant research problems in democratic didactics research
   1. What knowledge and skills are necessary to promote democratic values and participation, and how can these best be developed and applied?
   2. How can lessons from the past help us identify and counter threats to democracy now and in the future?
2. Democratic resilience as civil security and preparedness
   1. How can we build preparedness against the spread of and belief in disinformation and conspiracy theories?
   2. What roles do civil society, human rights, and social movements play in strengthening democratic resilience?
3. Democratic preparedness and resilience in society’s knowledge organizations
   1. What has laid the foundation for trust in knowledge and in scientific, public, and political institutions, and how can this trust be maintained?
   2. What democratic theoretical perspectives provide the foundations for these institutions, and how have they influenced power relations and political processes in society?
4. Democratic and just transition
   1. How can democratic values be safeguarded as we confront challenges related to sustainable development?
   2. How can we ensure democratic participation in the interplay between societal development and the emergence of new technologies and communication forms?

Compulsory assignments

• 80 % attendance
• Participation in the introductory session
• Process seminar with presentation of self-chosen written work

Required previous knowledge

Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant fields. Limited admission to teaching. PhD candidates are prioritized for admission.

Admission Limit*: The course has a limit of 25 students. If fewer than 5 applicants, the Department of Teacher Education reserves the right to cancel the course. *Applicants will be ranked based on the criteria presented here, along with the deadline for applications: www.ntnu.edu/ilu/phd-courses