Courses

This year's RVS Spring course is held in Kristiansand, May 27 - 28. The topic is Minorty - majority relations, and we look forward to interesting discussions. See more about the program below. 

All PhD students at the RVS partner institutions are welcome to apply. RVS covers your travel (from your university city), hotel and the course itself. Please note that if you live outside Kristiansand, you need to arrive Sunday 26th (we cover hotel that night also). 

You apply for the course here: https://nettskjema.no/a/389397. We appreciate that you apply as soon as you know that you want to take part. Latest application date is April 1st. Deadline for sending in short paper will be May 1st. 

A detailed program is published in the RVS Canvas. Keynote speakers are: Alana Vincent (Umeå), Margaaret van Es (Utrecht), Alexander Unser (Dortmund), and Benedicte Nessa (NORCE). The local committee is led by Ida Marie Høeg. 

About the course theme: 

Minorities are an unquestionable part of Europe, but still, the question of majority and minority relations is central. A period of acceptance of collective rights and the rights of minorities have followed hostilities and othering of minorities. Long-established minorities and emergent or newly built face manifestations of nationalism, ethnocentrism and group closure which restrict social contact, religious expressions, and economic relations. For understanding minority-majority relations at the theoretical and empirical level, it is significant to centre on perceptions or attitudes held by members of one group towards another and how boundaries are maintained. Moreover, vital for understanding the relationship between majority and minority groups is to explore how inequalities in the distribution of wealth and material goods are instituted. 

The spring course will focus on minorities and majority relations in a plural world. The thematic intersection of globalization, migration and politics explore the topic. The course addresses central issues such as integration processes and diversity management at the workplace, dialogue and religious expressions, minority gender constructions, and political and legal issues such as human rights and democratic values.