Cognitive Semiotics: Phenomenology in Theory and Practice

The course will make you familiar with concepts that may at first sound challenging, but that will grow on you with time and help you understand yourself and the world around you in a richer way: consciousness, intentionality, subjectivity and intersubjectivity, lifeworld and embodiment. But rather than staying on the theoretical side of things, we also focus on the so-called “phenomenological method”, which is based on principles like epoché, phenomenological reduction, eidetic variation, as well as the cognitive semiotic contribution to the field: phenomenological triangulation and how it can be applied in specific phenomenological investigations, including in your own research projects.

Course syllabus

The syllabus contains the formal and legal details of the entire course. It’s a legal document outlining the course structure and requirements, intended mainly for administrative use.

Course literature

The course literature listed may be updated up to eight weeks before the course begins.

The course consists of seminar-like classes with obligatory attendance and active participation (but you can make-up with a short reflective summary if you have to miss one). The examination consists of writing 10 short (ca. 500 words each) reflections on a topic that was discussed in each seminar. In addition, you will develop a collaborative project in a small group, with one or two other students, and present it in a seminar at the end of the course. 

The course is obligatory for students specializing in cognitive semiotics. It will help you to understand why phenomenology is an essential theoretical and methodological ingredient in the cognitive semiotic synthesis, and how you can use it in developing your MA thesis project. But even if you do not specialize in the discipline, phenomenology can broaden your perspective: on language, if you come from linguistics, or on cognition, if you rather come from cognitive science. Or any other field that deals with meaning and consciousness for that matter. It can be taken by both MA and PhD students in these fields, and will provide insights and inspiration for your research.

Entry requirements

To be admitted to the course, students must have 90 credits including 60 credits in relevant fields such as linguistics, semiotics, cognitive science and media studies, or corresponding knowledge, and English 6/B from Swedish upper secondary school.

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 16,875
First payment: SEK 16,875

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.