Research

At the University of Oulu cultural anthropology has three focus areas, in which our research and teaching are specialized.

1. Northern cultures and societies
2. Indigenous cultures of the Americas
3. Contemporary Western culture

However, students can choose their own research subjects from other areas, too. Our faculty members have done research on, e.g., the transformations of traditional Finnish fishing economy, the bodybuilders’ conceptions of an ideal body, the adaptation of Northern Finnish reindeer herders to the exigencies of the contemporary socio-economic setting, and the political culture of the Shawnee Indians. Theoretically, we have long-standing interests in the political economical/ecological study of the interaction between humans and their environment, gender studies and body theories, and in the cognitive analysis of cultural conceptions and worldviews.

Our faculty has organized several fieldwork projects that have resulted in several M.A. theses. Such projects have been carried out for example in the villages of Lokka, Karesuvanto, and Angel, all in Northern Finland.