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KTH Future Humanities Symposium

How we strengthen vocational education with humanities

Welcome to an afternoon about the importance of the humanities - for developing vocational education

Time: Wed 2025-01-15 12.00 - 17.30

Location: Nalen, Pelarsalen, David Bagares gata 17

Language: Swedish

Participating: Sverker Sörlin, Nina Wormbs, Anders Ekström, Ida Ölmedal m.fl

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In a time of change, you should take advantage of good knowledge and knowledge that can make a difference for tomorrow. In recent years, an increasingly offensive narrative about the humanities has taken shape, emphasizing the value of humanistic knowledge and education.

Our starting point is to make the humanities an indispensable element in professional education. But, what constitutes the humanities component, really? And who teaches humanities? What is the benefit of humanities knowledge in your profession? Many use humanities practices such as essay writing or the seminar. Other humanities competences such as having a reflexive approach to one's profession and one's surroundings, or the ability to draw the history of a subject, have become part of many educations even outside the humanities faculties.

On January 15, we gather for a half-day symposium where we discuss the possibility of the humanities to improve professional education for a changing future. The day begins with a speech by Sverker Sörlin and ends with a panel with Anders Ekström, Kim Silow Kallenberg, Lars Strannegård and Ida Ölmedal. During the afternoon, we get a number of examples of various initiatives in Sweden, from the Karolinska Institutet, Maria Josephsson, the School of Economics, Tinni Ernsjö Rappe and Uppsala University, Sven Widmalm, which we twist and turn with well-known colleagues. We also touch on the specific knowledge practices of the humanities and how they can be transferred and adapted to new contexts.

The symposium is 12.30-17.30, with coffee from 12 and mingling until 19.

Register here by January 8 at the latest: www.kth.se/form/fhisymposium

Note that the whole day is in Swedish. 

Program


12.00 - Coffee is served in Pelarsalen

12.30 - Introduction

Nina Wormbs (KTH) welcomes and introduces the Future Humanities Initiative project

12.35 - The "H factor" - the humanities' unknown success factor

Sverker Sörlin (KTH) on the positive effects of the humanities on the labor market and within vocational education.

13.10- Humanities in Swedish vocational education: experiences and perspectives

Tinni Ernsjöö Rappe (Stockholm School of Economics) and Maria Josephson (Karolinska Institute) share their experiences of introducing humanities perspectives to students in economics and medicine. The presentations are followed by a panel discussion with Eva Schwarz (Södertörn University) and Katarina Bernhardsson (Lund university). Moderators: Moa Ekbom and Erik Isberg.

14.10 - Coffee

14.40 - The place of humanities in engineering education and the problem of characterizing knowledge

Sven Widmalm (Uppsala University) talks about how the STS program came about and what lessons we can take with us from that work. The presentation is followed by a panel discussion with Per Högselius (KTH), Elias Mellander (Gothenburg University) and Per Wisselgren (Uppsala University). Moderators: Erik Isberg and Klara Müller.

15.40 - Humanities practices

What role can humanities practices play in future professional education? Three presentations on three practices by Jesper Olsson (Uppsala University) on reading, Julia Ravanis (Chalmers University of Technology) on the essay and Alexander Maurits (Lund University) on the seminar are followed by a panel discussion with the presenters and Lovisa Brännstedt (Lund University). Moderators: Moa Ekbom and Klara Müller.

16.40 - Leg stretcher

16.50 - Humanities of the future in a changing world

Anders Ekström (Uppsala University), Ida Ölmedal (Svenska Dagbladet), Lars Strannegård (Stockholm School of Economics) and Kim Silow Kallenberg (Humtank and Södertörn University) summarize the day and discuss ways forward for humanities knowledge in the future educational landscape. Moderators: Nina Wormbs and Moa Ekbom.

17.30 - Mingle


The KTH Future Humanities Initiative, with funding from the Wallenberg Foundations, is based on KTH's position as an unconventional humanities knowledge environment and the rise of integrative humanities over the past decade. Interdisciplinary research environments with a clear focus on large problem complexes – environmental humanities, digital humanities and medical humanities are a few examples – have opened up new questions about the role of the humanities in society, but also within the education system in general. How can we best use and develop humanities knowledge in a time of major social, technological and environmental changes? What role can the humanities play in future vocational education? Read more about the KTH Future Humanities Initiative here.