Facilitators: Francisco Durán del Fierro, Lorenzo Ciletti & Elke Van dermijnsbrugge | Five two-hour sessions | Summer term: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (UK time) Thursdays April 29 + May 13, 27 + June 10, 17

This reading group aims to discuss and challenge the epistemological underpinnings of social research. With these elements in mind, a focus will be given to the possibility to rethink the main categories of the predominant epistemology in social research, and create alternative perspectives that can underpin social research.

The reading group is designed for students at different stages of their PhD interested in exploring new ways of thinking and doing social research. Participants do not need to have previous knowledge of epistemology or philosophy. In preparation of every session, and to stimulate a focused discussion, participants will be invited to read one or two short documents. Also, participants will be asked to identify beforehand two elements of the reading/s that they may find interesting or critical and answer one or two guiding questions that challenge certain notions in the reading/s to ensure a more focused discussion. Therefore, the only requirement is to read and be prepared to share thoughts…and, of course, to love the boundlessness.

This reading group is composed of five sessions. The first session will give a broad overview of the predominant epistemology in social research and its implications through the analysis of its foremost categories. The other sessions will focus on exploring the foundational understandings that can help us to think differently about the way we know and relate to knowledge; we will focus on discussing and developing alternative epistemological categories.