Course WORKING WITH CONCEPTS - The Use of Theory in the Study of Aesthetic Phenomena

Course description

PhD Seminar at Sandbjerg Gods, March 16-19, 2026.

Organised by Peter Simonsen (University of Southern Denmark), Mathias Danbolt (University of Copenhagen), and Laura Katrine Skinnebach (Aarhus University).

Words are used, concepts are chosen—but when does a word become a concept, and what kind of theoretical baggage does it drag into our analyses? Every research field has its own theories and concepts to capture the media, form, content, expression, reception, and other elements of the artistic phenomena we study. What may be a simple word in one discipline can become a complex concept in another. Terms like image, culture, style, readership, work, author/artist and genre are not only widely used but also continually negotiated within our fields—not to mention the most ambivalent of them all: the aesthetic. This is a term with a long and complicated history and a multitude of meanings that seem to constantly haunt—or inspire—us, and spark curiosity.

We often borrow theories and concepts from other fields and adapt them to the study of the aesthetic. We juggle with queer theory, psychoanalysis, ecology, phenomenology, visual anthropology, new materialism, animism, decolonial theory, and play theory. Theories and concepts open our minds to new ideas. They help us shape the questions we ask when we investigate past or present artistic phenomena. At times, we struggle to find the concepts we need—and perhaps we must invent them ourselves. Theories and concepts can be alluring, but they may also lead us astray.

We are increasingly aware of the need to critically refine the concepts and approaches that shape how we analyse, describe, and engage with our research materials. This PhD seminar addresses the function, use, and application of theories and concepts in research focusing on aesthetic phenomena and materials. What do specific theories and concepts bring to the field? What roles do they play in academic inquiry—if any? What challenges arise when we engage theoretical frameworks? How do we deal with troubled concepts and their baggage? How can we combine different theoretical approaches, and what are the potential pitfalls? How do we integrate concepts from other disciplines? Do concepts mean the same within the arts as they do in other research fields—and does that matter? Are all disciplines within the aesthetic field equally theoretical? Do we tend to over-theorise—or under-theorise? What happened to capital T theory? Does a theory need application to count? Can we make do without theory?

These questions—and many more—will be explored at this year’s Sandbjerg Seminar, a PhD gathering for those eager to share their projects and engage in stimulating conversations and constructive feedback with fellow doctoral researchers and dedicated lecturers. And not least: to spend four days in the beautiful surroundings of Sandbjerg, enjoying excellent food, inspiring company, and the serenity of nature.

Aim/Learning outcomes

The PhD students will be offered the opportunity to present a work in progress and will get substantial feed-back from junior and senior colleagues. In reading sessions and workshops they will be able to discuss their work and current approaches to the topic and they will meet future colleagues from different Danish and Scandinavian universities.

Requirements for participation

We welcome proposals for 15-minute papers on questions related to theoretical approaches and the use of concepts within the broad fields of aesthetic and cultural studies. To sign up, send a paper proposal (abstracts) of approx. 300 words to the organisers, Laura Katrine Skinnebach (lks@cc.au.dk), Peter Simonsen (petsim@sdu.dk), and Mathias Danbolt (danbolt@hum.ku.dk), no later than January 16, 2026. Please make sure to write your name and institutional affiliation in the abstract, thanks

Target group/Participants

PhD scholars at all stages, primarily from the three organizing universities (see below).

Workload

• Course/ teaching hours:
• Preparation hours:
• Written assignments etc.:

Language 

• English

Lecturers

Amelia Jones is Robert A. Day Professor and Vice Dean of Faculty and Research at Roski School of Art & Design, USC, and is a curator and scholar of contemporary art, performance, and feminist and sexuality studies. Recent publications include Seeing Differently: A History and Theory of Identification and the Visual Arts (2012); a volume co-edited with Erin Silver, Otherwise: Imagining Queer Feminist Art Histories (2016); and In Between Subjects: A Critical Genealogy of Queer Performance (2021). Jones has also curated numerous exhibitions and edited catalogues, including for exhibitions such as Queer Communion: Ron Athey (2020), co-edited with Andy Campbell, which accompanied a retrospective of Athey’s work at Participant Inc. (New York) and ICA (Los Angeles), and Ken Gonzales-Day: History’s ”Nevermade” (2025), accompanying the eponymous survey exhibition of Gonzales-Day’s work at the USC Fisher Museum (Los Angeles). She is currently working on a book addressing the neoliberalism and structural racism in the Euro-American university and art complex.

Ben Davies’ research focuses on modern and contemporary literature and theory, with particular emphasis on time, the novel, narrative theory, reading and readers. His research is situated at the intersections of literature, narrative theory, and the sociology of reading. In 2024-2025, he held a Research Fellowship at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. His first monograph, Sex, Time and Space in Contemporary Fiction, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2016. He is the editor of two book collections, John Burnside: Contemporary Critical Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2020), and (with Jana Funke), Sex, Gender and Time in Fiction and Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). He has co-authored the monograph Reading Novels During the Covid-19 Pandemic (Oxford University Press, 2022). This book was awarded the 2022 British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies Monograph Prize.in addition he has published numerous articles on reading, time, and contemporary literature.

Tobias Dias is currently a postdoc fellow at the Department of Art History, Aesthetics & Culture and Museology, Aarhus University. Dias’ research focuses on the historical avant-gardes, the neo-avant-gardes, contemporary art, and aesthetic theory from 1800 to the present. He is particularly interested in the "politics of knowledge" in art and theory that can be attributed to the revolutionary and emancipatory tradition, including Dadaism, Constructivism, Marxism, Critical Theory, the Situationist International, anti-colonial art and thought, as well as recent socially engaged art and climate activism. He recently completed the research project A Nameless Science: Art, Expertise, and Infrastructure, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Alongside his research at Aarhus University, he teaches art theory at Det Jyske Kunstakademi. He has recently published the anthology En Anden Økologi: En Antikapitalistisk Håndbog (Another Ecology: An Anticapitalist Manual), Antiyrine 2025 and “’The Passion of Freemen’: Towards a Nashist Aesthetics” 2025.

Venue

Sandbjerg Gods

Course dates:

• 16 March 2026
• 17 March 2026
• 18 March 2026
• 19 March 2026