Elective courses
The research school offers at least two elective courses each year.
The courses will be open for all military doctoral students of the research school. Additional places will be offered to civilian doctoral students at member universities.
Initially, two courses will be offered each year by the Swedish Defence University. Additional courses will be offered when available, organised by member universities (by themselves or together with the Swedish Defence University). Courses will be selected each year by the steering committee.
Elective courses for 2025
The Practice of Soldier Scholars (7,5 ECTS)
Like many other practitioners that conduct research, military officers with a PhD are often confronted with conflicting identities. Military officers, supposedly, are hierarchical, collective-minded, and rigid whereas researchers are supposed to be critical, individualistic, and nuanced. Although certainly a caricature, the course aims to introduce and develop analytical tools to better deal with and reflect over these dual identities.
Do you become a better researcher on war and military operations if you are an officer and do you become a better officer if you are a researcher? How do these roles and identities interact in the research process as well as in the military profession?
The course is primarily, but not exclusively, catered for military PhD candidates and runs with weekly seminars on Zoom with a concluding on-site in Stockholm workshop to also further networking among Nordic soldier-scholars.
Course provider: Swedish Defence University, Department of War Studies
Course director: Professor Jan Ångström.
Course dates 2025: week 14-18.
Sign up for the course via the Application form - Doctoral level courses in War Studies 2025
Research in Sensitive Contexts: Ethics and Secrecy (7,5 ECTS)
This course focuses on research ethics in sensitive contexts – specifically, research on topics related to national, societal, and human security conducted under challenging and precarious circumstances. It approaches research ethics as an open-ended question, shaped by multiple relationships: with research subjects, society at large, colleagues, and authorities that enable research, as well as the sensitive environments in which research takes place. Additionally, it encourages researchers to reflect on integrity, honesty, and ethical responsibilities.
The course consists of six thematic seminars:
- Introduction to research ethics in sensitive contexts
- Conducting research on elite groups in sensitive contexts
- Researching “vulnerable groups” in sensitive contexts through qualitative field research
- Conducting research on sensitive contexts through quantitative methods
- Conducting research on the military as research subjects
- Conducting research on sensitive contexts/issues through open sources and sensitive information.
The seminars are divided into two parts. In the first, an invited researcher shares personal experiences and insights in conversation with doctoral students. In the second, students engage in a seminar discussion based on course readings.
Course provider: Swedish Defence University, Department of War Studies
Course director: Professor Maria Eriksson Baaz.
Course dates 2025: week 41-45.
Sign up for the course via the Application form - Doctoral level courses in War Studies 2025