Humanities Studies in Education (HumStud) - Faculty of Educational Sciences

The research group

We explore aspects of educational aims, processes and institutions related to forms of understanding, ethics, aesthetics and politics. Key topics are ethical-political education (Bildung); cognition; knowledge constructions; critical thinking; forms of recognition; and global citizenship.

Along with rapid knowledge changes and growing cultural diversities, humanity research are continuously taking up new themes and theories in the face of today’s democratic and moral challenges.

Historical, philosophical and epistemological analysis help to understand, question, and justify educational activities and research. This research area represents an integral element of the research portfolio at the Faculty of Education.

Head of the research group is professor Inga Bostad.

Research activities

Ongoing projects:

Democracy, children and representation
Educating Democracy
Knutepunkt for studier i utdannings- og pedagogikkhistorie
The Nordic Education Model (NordEd)
Educational justice and social imaginaries
Education Theory
From gender equality to life skills? A pedagogical-philosophical analysis of the school's gender equality mission (PhD project)
Education and/or Equality: A reconfiguration of the sensible
Academic Hospitality in Interdisciplinary Education (AHIE)

Completed projects:

Nordic Teacher Cultures
Educating Humanity. Rethinking ethical-political education (Bildung)
The significance of place in philosophy of education
The moral order of ICT (Information and communication technology) development, deployment, and use
The pedagogy of plasticity
Universalism and context. Emergence and Transformation of Sustainability Values in KRLE
Narratives of educational research
A new look at old problems
Education and democratization: A critical reading of Alain Badiou’s political philosophy

Academic training

HumStud takes on a particular responsibility for

the introductory course at the Faculty of Educational Sciences (UVExFac)
Master in education (from autumn 2025 new specialization Education and Society (in norwegian)
PhD course Political Philosophy of Education (UV9412).
We also teach at the following courses: Læring og undervisning (1001), Danning og utdanning (PED1002), Metode (PED1020), Barn og ungdom, oppvekst og opplæring (PED2202), Bachelorfordypningen (PED3090), Danning og demokratisering (PED4303), Tekstanalyse (PED4031 og PED4305), Education, equity and social justice (PED4306), International master in Education; The Norwegian Educational System in its Nordic Context (MIED 2100/4100) Forskningsmetode og vitenskapsteori (PED4040) og kurs i vitenskapsteori for Ph.d (UV9002) og forskningsetikk (UV9010).