Foundations and Frontiers of Analytical Sociology (5 ECTS)

Applications are open for Foundations and Frontiers of Analytical Sociology, a doctoral-level course hosted by Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University. The course is organized around an international lecture series featuring many of the scholars who have shaped analytical sociology and continue to define its contemporary development.

Confirmed speakers include:

Peter Bearman, Delia Baldassarri, Elizabeth Bruch, Damon Centola, Diego Gambetta, Peter Hedström, Gianluca Manzo, Michael Macy, Arnout van de Rijt, Duncan Watts, and Petri Ylikoski.

The course explores central questions concerning social mechanisms, explanation, social interaction, networks, diffusion, collective action, computational social science, and the relationship between theory and empirical research. Particular attention is devoted to the role of mechanism-based explanations in the social sciences and to philosophical questions concerning explanation, causation, and social scientific inquiry.

The lecture series is accompanied by readings and highly participatory seminars in which participants critically discuss the lectures, the assigned literature, and connections to their own research. The course culminates in an individual paper in which participants develop an independent analysis of a research question using the theories, concepts, and explanatory models discussed throughout the course. Participants are encouraged to connect this assignment directly to their doctoral projects.

The course is open to doctoral students and researchers from sociology, philosophy, political science, economics, computational social science, and related disciplines.

For more information, contact the course organizer and seminar leader Josef Ginnerskov at josef.ginnerskov(at)liu.se

Syllabus:
https://forskarstudier.liu.se/en/kurs/7FIEI26/2026V/1624499#syllabus

Registration:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/eFsbLUXnfk