Research and Education at Department of Communication and Psychology

Research and education at the department gather and create knowledge with a view to analyse, understand, interpret, design and put into practice processes, situations and products that improve or expand the capacity of individuals and communities to participate in society.

Our interests are directed both towards different situations, processes, procedures and products that are connected with people’s manner of participating in society. The department stands firmly on a humanistic foundation and our activities thus focus on human practices and the relations between people, organisations, society, media, technologies and knowledge. The expertise of the department is rooted in classical as well as new humanistic disciplines that contain interdisciplinary competencies and are characterised by a deep knowledge of the being and agency of individuals. The department works within a research-based approach to innovation, that is, it works with new practices and products based on research that aims at solutions for the surrounding society, while still being unambiguously rooted in a epistemological interest.

Research

Humanistic research is generally organic and works with a broad array of methods, theories and topics. It does so because humanistic research is directed towards the many topics and issues that concern human beings and the human condition. The Humanities are as such cross-disciplinary and the Department of Communication and Psychology is based on this premise.

large and truly decisive human challenges and issues such as the importance of culture (and cultural differences), behaviour, sustainability, knowledge as well as decision ecologies, the building of communities, dissemination of important knowledge and messages, mental health and well-being, advanced digital technologies and design are clearcut examples of the importance of humanistic competences and research to our society. Humanistic knowledge and research, possibly in collaboration with other disciplines, has an important role to play when trying to understand, define and solve the previously mentioned challenges. The purpose of the knowledge created at the Department of Communication and Psychology is to analyse, interpret and participate in developing human practices in regard to long-term complex challenges as well as topical issues.

Education

The Department of Communication and Psychology offers programmes that are directed towards contributing to the surrounding society whether it is in the shape of communicative development, digital innovation, therapeutic, intervening and counseling competences, development of cultural or experience products – or other important value creation. Graduate students not only have to be able to manage themselves find a job when they acquire their degree and in the future; they have to be able to contribute with new knowledge and innovative competences in order to contribute to their own development and that of society.