This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled by Graduate School students.
- Research Seminars on Multilevel Orders of Corruption in Central Asia
- CMES Public Talk with Göran Rosenberg: “Whither Israel”
- UPF Career Talk: From Operations to Negotiations
- What does student activism mean today? A case study from Spain
- Visual Methods in the Social Sciences
- Development Lunch Seminar: Exploring Collaborative Governance Frameworks in Complex Cross-Sector Collaborations in Africa
- Local traditional knowledge for global governance: solutions for the multi-crisis of climate, water, biodiversity, health and food
Multilevel Orders of Corruption in Central Asia
Research Seminar
The seminar holders, Sebastian Mayer and Madina Ishkibayeva, are guest researchers in the MOCCA research project. MOCCA is a research and staff exchange programme that intends to contribute to the global and national efforts of understanding and counteracting corruption by conducting interdisciplinary research on the multilevel orders of corruption in five countries in post-Soviet Central Asia.
“I Stayed, But Not Silently”
Upholding Professional Identity as a Catalyst Against Corrupt Practices in Higher Education
This study explores the role of professional identity as a transformative force in combating systemic corruption within higher education institutions. Titled “I Stayed, But Not Silently”, the research centers on how educators, administrators, and students leverage their professional ethos to resist unethical practices—such as bribery, nepotism, plagiarism, and financial fraud- while remaining embedded within corrupt systems. Through qualitative analysis of stakeholder narratives and institutional case studies, the paper argues that a robust professional identity, rooted in ethical values and accountability, serves as both a moral compass and a catalyst for cultural change. By internalizing norms of integrity, transparency, and collective responsibility, individuals challenge corruption through everyday acts of resistance, from rejecting grade manipulation to advocating for policy reforms. The study highlights mechanisms such as peer accountability, mentorship, and institutional recognition systems that reinforce ethical behavior, while also acknowledging structural barriers like political interference and resource scarcity that undermine such efforts. Ultimately, the findings suggest that nurturing professional identity is not merely an individual endeavor but a strategic institutional priority. It fosters resilience against corruption by transforming passive compliance into active advocacy, thereby reshaping organizational culture from within. This work contributes to broader discourses on anti-corruption strategies, emphasizing the interplay between personal agency, institutional support, and systemic reform in safeguarding the integrity of higher education.
Date and time: 21 May 2025, 13:15-15:00
Location: Room M331, 3rd floor, Allhelgona Kyrkogata 18 (House M), Lund and online.
For more information, visit this page
CMES Public Talk with Göran Rosenberg: “Whither Israel”
Lecture
Welcome to a public CMES talk with Göran Rosenberg on the future of Israel – in conversation with Lisa Strömbom, Department of Political Science.
Göran Rosenberg is a renowned Swedish writer and journalist, recipient of the 2012 August Prize for A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz. His most recent book Another Judaism. Another Zionism. The Unrequited Love of Marcus Ehrenpreis (2021) explores early 20th-century Jewish thought and identity. His book Israel, a Personal History will be published in October 2025. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg and has received numerous awards for his literary and biographical work.
Moderator: Karin Aggestam, Professor in Political Science, Lund University
This event is a collaboration with Lund Association of Foreign Affairs.
All welcome!
Date and time: 21 May 2025, 18:00-19:30
Location: Eden Auditorium (Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund)
For more information, visit this page
UPF Career Talk: From Operations to Negotiations
Multilateralism, Diplomacy, and the Security Sector
Interested in international security, defence diplomacy, and multilateral cooperation?
Join us for a Career Talk with Commander Tyson Nicholas, Strategic Military Advisor at UN Women, as he shares insights from his work in global peacekeeping, UN operations, and gender-responsive security policy-driven by a strong commitment to advancing inclusive and effective international peace and security
Our (joining online) Guest Speaker: Commander Tyson Nicholas is Strategic Military Advisor at UN Women, seconded from the Australian Defence Force. With over 26 years of experience, he has led international peacekeeping, defence diplomacy, and security operations. He is an alumnus of the Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law at Lund University.
CAREER TALKS is a series of events by UPF Lund’s Career Committee, offering students insights into career paths, experiences, and networking opportunities in fields related to international relations. Come learn from inspiring professionals and explore your future!
Free fika and entrance for members
40 SEK for non-members
Date and time: 22 May 2025,16:45 – 18:00
Location: GAMLA KÖKET 128
For more information, please contact: career@upflund.se
What does student activism mean today? A case study from Spain
Seminar
The inauguration of a special series in public philosophy at Lund University
You are cordially invited to the inauguration of a series in public philosophy dedicated to topical (and sometimes controversial) questions. In our current era of polarization, terms such as student activism often hold multiple and contested meanings. What would happen if we were to invite discourse on both sides of the debate?
Audience participation and engagement (as well as decorum and politeness) are expected and encouraged.
Host: Melina Tsapos, Phd Candidate, Department of Philosoph,y Lund University
Guest: Jordan Spencer Jacobs, Visiting Researcher, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University
Respondent: Professor Erik J. Olsson, Department of Philosophy, Lund University
Date and time: 22 May 2025, 17:15 -18:30
Location: LUX B 237 and online (upon request)
For more information, visit this page
Visual Methods in the Social Sciences
Workshop
The Lund Social Science Methods Centre invites you to a workshop on visual methods with keynote Nicole Milman-Doerr, Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, where she is the director of CoMMonS Research Center for Studies of Political Mobilisation and Social Movements at the Department of Sociology.
Drawing on interdisciplinary theories and visual qualitative and computational methods in visual and cultural studies, media and digital communication, narrative, gender studies, and discourse analysis, this workshop will critically investigate how images are constructed and spread in digital publics and news media, among policy makers and in globalized arenas of affective politics, violent conflict, and protest. Strategies of visual persuasion, visual storytelling, and the transformative ‘power of images’ have been studied by media theorists, art historians and by empirical analysts of gender, culture, media, discourse and transnational social movements. We discuss how journalists, bloggers, artists, indigenous and BIPoC activists or non-profit organizations and gender theorists try to challenge autocratic images and stigmatizing representations, and we investigate how cultural codes, familiar stories and specific stereotypes shape the boundaries of democracy and public participation. This workshop is fairly empirical and based on international collaborative projects with theorists of art, computer vision and qualitative methods.
No registration is needed for this workshop. Everyone is welcome (inside and outside the University)
Date and time: 22 May 2025, 10:00 – 12:00
Location: Sh107, Gamla köket (School of Social Work), Allhelgona Kyrkogata 8, Lund
For more information, visit this page
Development Lunch Seminar: Exploring Collaborative Governance Frameworks in Complex Cross-Sector Collaborations in Africa
Seminar
Welcome to a Development Lunch Seminar with Sadiq Gulma (Malmö University).
“Exploring Collaborative Governance Frameworks in Complex Cross-Sector Collaborations in Africa”
Read more about Sadiq Gulma’s research here.
About the Development Lunch Seminars
The Development Research Lunch is a bi-weekly research seminar for all scholars interested in development research, broadly defined. The series is a collaboration between the Development Group at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, and the Development Research School, in turn a collaboration between the Universities of Lund, Gothenburg and Uppsala, and the University of Ghana. The seminar series encourages both junior and senior scholars to present, from a wide range of disciplines.
This is an online (Zoom) event. To attend, please register here before the seminar starts.
Date and time: 22 May 2025, 12:00 – 13:00
Location: Online (Zoom)
For more information, visit this page
Local traditional knowledge for global governance: solutions for the multi-crisis of climate, water, biodiversity, health and food
Seminar
On May 23, LUCSUS hosts a seminar by a Colombian visiting professor, Martha Isabel Gómez Lee. She will give a public presentation on how local traditional knowledge can address the interconnected global crises.
Local traditional knowledge for global governance
Solutions for the multi-crisis of climate, water, biodiversity, health and food
This presentation explores how local traditional knowledge can contribute to addressing the interconnected global crises—climate change, biodiversity loss, water insecurity, health, and food systems—termed the “multicrisis.” Drawing on interdisciplinary research and personal experience, Martha Isabel Gómez Lee argues that Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) offer vital, place-based knowledge systems that global governance must engage with more equitably. The talk identifies three foundational conditions for integrating traditional knowledge into international policy: ending biocolonialism, recognising Indigenous future temporalities, and promoting Traditional Knowledge Diplomacy (TKD). Through examples from Latin America, particularly the Andean region and organisations like FILAC, the presentation highlights how IPLCs’ lived, cyclical conceptions of time and diplomacy rooted in ancestral wisdom can shape resilient, inclusive global solutions. Ultimately, the presentation calls for a transformative shift in policy frameworks to ensure traditional knowledge is not only protected but also actively influences sustainable development pathways.
Date and time: 23 May 2025, 10:00 – 12:00
Location: Ostrom, Josephson building, Biskopsgatan 5, Lund
For more information, visit this page