Holberg Prize PhD Masterclass 2024: "Thoughts on the Planetary"

Ph.D. -course

ECTS credits: 5
Teaching semesters: Spring
Course code: HOL900
Number of semesters: 1
Teaching language: English
Resources: Schedule

Select course description for semester

Objectives and Content

In connection with the Holberg Week 2024 and as part of the academic events related to 2024 Holberg Prize Laureate Achille Mbembe, we invite applications from all PhD students of social science and humanities disciplines to take part in a Masterclass. Applicants, who have to be based at Nordic Universities, will be selected from the pool of applicants by Academic Director of the Holberg Prize, prof. Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, in collaboration with the Secretariat.

Description of Masterclass theme
The greatest challenge facing critical theory now is the reframing of the disciplines in light of the long-term sustainability of life on Earth.

To tease out alternative possibilities for thinking life and human futures in this age, there is no better laboratory than Africa. Our planet's destiny might be played out here. Yet, to write the world from Africa, or to write Africa into the world is an exhilarating and, most of the time, perplexing task. Why?

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course the participants should be able to:

participate in an on-stage, high-profile discussion with fellow PhD students and the 2024 Holberg Prize Laureate
formulate and express arguments about the limitis and posssibilites of thinking the planetary from her/his disciplinary perspective
summarise and popularise her/his research for a large audience
demonstrate an independent overview of key notions and insights provided by the course literature, such as the planetary
receive and provide constructive criticism of other positions and statements during the Masterclass

ECTS Credits

5 ECTS

Level of Study

PhD

Semester of Instruction

Spring

2 May - 6 June

The application deadline is 25 April 2024 and the call has been disseminated widely. The text for application:

Apply for the Masterclass by completing the application form below. We ask that you submit a letter of motivation (no more than 3,500 characters), your CV and contact information.

Please register by using this form

Decisions to all applicants about course admittance is given within 2 May 2024.

Place of Instruction

University of Bergen

Recommended Previous Knowledge

The applicant will be expected to be an active PhD student with an interest in the field of the 2024 Holberg Prize Laureate. While s/he is not necessarily an expert in this field, the participant should have sufficient theoretical-analytical training to engage and reflect on the curriculum, in addition to relating it to her/his own research.

Access to the Course

The Holberg Prize offers scholarships for five PhD candidates in the Nordic countries to participate in the Masterclass.

The candidates must be enrolled in a PhD programme at a Nordic university and has to be an active PhD student at the time of the Masterclass. The Masterclass is not open to MA students.

Teaching and learning methods

The programme consists of two parts:

Individual studies of the curriculum and pre-event preparation.
Participation in the Masterclass, and other events during the Holberg Week, as detailed above.

Lecturer: Professor Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand

Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

Drawing also on their own work, participants are asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation related to the main topic of the Masterclass. In addition to knowledge of the texts below, participants are also asked to prepare questions for Professor Achille Mbembe in advance. The discussion will be held in English.

In addition to the above, participants are also expected to actively participate in other relevant academic activities during the Holberg Week, including symposia, lectures and public discussions.

The total amount of workload is stipulated to be four weeks. This includes 4 days of participation to above-mentioned academic events in Bergen and preparatory work in relation reading the curriculum and preparing for the Masterclass.

Forms of Assessment

Evaluation of the participation to the general on-stage discussion done as part of the Masterclass, in addition to an evaluation of the individual presentation of her/his own research.

Grading Scale

Passed/Not passed

Assessment Semester

Spring

Reading List

Curriculum

Achille Mbembe, Out of the Dark Night. Essays on Decolonization (New York, Columbia University Press, 2020), pp. 1-41; 42-89; 223-230

Achille Mbembe, Critique of Black Reason (Durham, Duke University Press, 2017), Introduction (pp.1-9), Chapter 1 and 2 (pp. 10-77) and Epilogue (pp. 179-184).

Achille Mbembe and David Theo Goldberg. "The Reason of Unreason: Achille Mbembe and David Theo Goldberg in conversation about Critique of Black Reason", Theory, Culture & Society, volume 35, 7-8, 2018.

Achille Mbembe, "Futures of Life & Futures of Reason", Public Culture, volume 33, 1, 2021, pp. 11-33.

Achille Mbembe, Brutalism (Durham, Duke University Press, 2023), Introduction & Conclusion, pp. 1-26; pp. 126-150.

Achille Mbembe, The Earthly Community. Reflections on the Last Utopia (Rotterdam, V2_Publishing, 2022), Introduction, Chapter 5 and Conclusion (pp. 7-34; 101-125)

The curriculum amounts to around 300 pages of complex academic prose.

Course Coordinator

Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, bjorn.bertelsen@uib.no