Transcultural Encounters Research Center

This community consists of two research groups:

Representations of the Self and the Other as a Factor in Cultural Encounters

Principal investigator:

Kari Alenius (Professor)

Research group members:

Olavi K. Fält (Professor)

Timo Sironen (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Roman Hautala (Docent, Ph.D)

Petteri Mertala (Ph.D)

Esko Nevalainen (Ph.D)

Marika Rauhala (Ph.D)

Antti Heikkinen (MA)

Hannu-Pekka Kangas (MA)

Sanna Salo (MA)

Annariina Seppänen (MA)

Janne Timonen (MMS)

Pekka Tuomikoski (MTh)

Conceptions of self and others form the basis for all cultural encounters. The central significance of such conceptions may be understood through their close engagement with identity, which is a basic feature of the existence of individual personas and of human communities. Every individual and every community has an identity, which distinguishes them from all other individuals and communities. Identity, in turn, consists of all the elements that people use in defining themselves.

The research group focuses on analysing how conceptions built on communal identities affect cultural encounters in various historical situations. The terms group identity or collective identity may be used as synonyms for communal identity. Although group identity is built from connecting elements that are often felt to be identical or nearly identical, and although identities possess a certain continuity that is sometimes very strong, one must be careful not to over-emphasise the constancy or mutually exclusive character of identity. It is clear that, within human communities, individuals differ to some extent in their perceptions both of the elements that make up their own group identity, and of the relative importance of those elements. Secondly, different groups may, and often do consider some of the same elements as part of their identity; in other words, groups almost never differ categorically from each other in all aspects of their identity.

Thirdly, it must be remembered that all people belong to multiple identity groups. People can perceive themselves simultaneously as members, for example, of various social, religious, ethnic, cultural, gender, and other comparable groups. In different life situations the significance of membership in different groups will vary. Fourthly, it should be emphasized that, in spite of certain continuity, identities are in a state of continuous testing and modification. People judge the content of their group identities, weigh the criteria for group membership, and may attempt either to strengthen existing elements or to modify them; they may also exchange one group for another.

All identity-related processing receives its concrete manifestation in the form of conceptions. Those conceptions are, to a large extent, generated unconsciously, and are based on the lifetime experience of the individual and of human groups. While the conceptions are not "real" in the sense that they might be "true" or "false" in absolute terms, nonetheless they all have real effects. Conceptions strongly guide people in shaping objectives and in selecting approaches in different situations.

Conceptions of self and others are the basic elements of a world view, not least because one's own identity is always built in comparison with others. Those who are considered to have sufficiently similar identity factors are perceived as "own", while "others", correspondingly, are those who are not seen as possessing sufficient similarity. It is inevitable that, in the absence of any generally accepted criteria for definition, the boundaries between groups are inherently vague and open to interpretation. The border between "us" and "others" sometimes must also be understood as multidimensional because, on a conceptual level, the world is not organized only into these two categories, but into multiple categories, subject to constant pressure for change. The more similarities we detect in other groups, the more "own" and less "other" these groups appear. Also, at the other end of the scale of identification are groups that are "very other and only slightly own" or "even more other and hardly own at all".

On the other hand, people have a strong tendency and need to see the world as simpler and more manageable than it is. This is why people emphasize and exaggerate both the internal unity of groups and the differences between them. In cultural encounters, the conceptual starting points are often such stereotypically constructed images of self and others.

The research group's key contribution to the international research discussion on conceptions and their impact is precisely to bring out the crucially essential role that conceptions play in the interaction between human communities, irrespective of time, place and other background and situational factors. The relative importance of the various factors naturally varies to some extent in different situations, but it should be emphasized that any analysis is incomplete that underestimates or ignores the directive effect of conceptions. All of the research group's individual projects adopt the perspective that, by taking into account the role and importance of conceptions, one can make substantial contributions to earlier research discussion of these phenomena and approach their more comprehensive understanding and explanation. Ultimately, historical research is itself to be understood as a discipline that analyses the psychology and behaviour of human communities.

Representations of Nature and Culture

Principal investigator:

Maija Kallinen (Associate Professor, Ph.D)

Research group members:

Tero Anttila (Post doc)

Samu Sarviaho (Post doc)

Jouni Huhtanen (MA)

Suvi Kuokkanen (Ph.D)

Mirette Modarress-Sadeghi (MA)

RESEARCH GROUP MEMBERS

PI Adjunct professor Matti Enbuske

Impact of Neolithisation on communities’ interaction networks and interdependencies

- Jari Okkonen (senior researcher, adjunct professor): Peer communities’ interaction and Neolithisation in the Baltic Sea Region

- Samuel Vaneeckhout (postdoc, PhD): House societies and social changes among the Neolithic hunter-gatherers in Ostrobothnia

- Karen Niskanen (doctoral student, MA): Neolithic cliff paintings in Finland as territorial boundaries

Socioeconomic and cultural networks of interaction and interdependence of prehistoric communities

- Jari-Matti Kuusela (postdoc, PhD): Socioeconomic questions of Bronze and Iron Age communities in Northern Finland

- Patrik Franzén (doctoral student, MA): Amber discoveries in Northern Finland

- Ville Hakamäki (doctoral student, MA): Isolated findings from the late Iron Age and interaction between inland and coastal areas in Northern Finland

- Aki Hakonen (doctoral student, MA): Late Neolithic and Early Metal Period local communities on the Bothnian Bay coast

Formation of communities and interactive relationships in the pre-Christian and historical age

- Jouko Vahtola (senior researcher, professor): Häme people’s expansion in mainland Northern Europe during the Viking Age (ca. 800–1150)

- Matti Leiviskä (doctoral student, PhilLic): Settlement of Kyrö parish. Onomastic and historical study of the settlement of Kyrö parish from the Middle Ages to the mid-1600s.

- Matti Enbuske (PI, adjunct professor): Northern communities - Birkarl's and Savonian

- Maria Julku (doctoral student, MA): The Crown and stewards as wielders of power in early 17th century Ostrobothnia

- Reija Satokangas (senior reseacher, PhD): Effects of population changes on the community's socioeconomic position: birth rate, migration and immigration in Northern Finland

Wielding of power by communities and formation of ethnicity in the Middle Ages

- Sirpa Aalto (postdoc, PhD): Encounters in the North – Political and cultural changes in the interaction between Scandinavians and Sámi from c. 1200 to c. 1500

- Janne Ikäheimo (senior researcher, PhD): Catholic church and the material culture of the Bothnian Bay coastal parishes in Finland during the Middle Ages

Communities’ religious changes and interdependencies

- Tiina Äikäs (postdoc, PhD): Change and contacts in the Sámi ethnic religion

- Anne Koskamo (doctoral student, MA: Kemi Lapland’s Sámi Christianity in 1599–1809

Economic, administrative and livelihood-related interactive relationships and interdependencies as factors of change in a modernising society

- Matti Salo (senior researcher, adjunct professor): Growth and change in Northern Finland’s industry and service business after World War II

- Kimmo Oikarinen (doctoral student, MA): Kainuu’s crown forest croft settlement from the 1860s to 1922

- Matti Mäntylä (PhD): Urho Kekkonen and Northern Finland in 1936–1981

- Niko Hänninen (doctoral student, PhilLic): Transformation of logging and timber procurement in Northern Finland 1945–1975

1. Starting point for the study

The starting point for the CODE group’s study of long-term changes in communities is the transcultural idea that communities do not take shape as independent, isolated units “within their own spheres”, but rather as diverse, continuous interactive relationships with different cultures. The transcultural idea has been applied in research primarily when studying modern societies, but in the CODE group’s project the idea is applied to analysis of communities’ long-term sociocultural changes, using archaeological, historical, anthropological and onomastic methods. The research group’s investigatory starting point is the view that cross-border interdependencies have been social, economic, technological, religious and politically ideological by nature.

The research group’s basic view is that to be functional, individual regionally confined communities must interact and deal with other communities. At the same time these interactions also create interdependencies. The main goal of the CODE group is to study long-term cross-border networks of interaction and interdependencies in communities of the past and to understand their impact mechanisms. Communities are understood as both local populations within small areas and broader societies which have formed their own defined boundaries and institutions.

2. Research subjects

Geographically, the group’s studies are concentrated in the Baltic Sea Region and Scandinavia and their northern areas. The region is especially interesting historically, as it has been populated by vigorous hunter-gatherer communities from the Stone Age long into the historical period, but many forms of agrarian culture have also had an influence since prehistoric times. During the historical period the region’s local communities and societies have undergone several major changes in population, government, economics and livelihoods, where cross-border factors have affected the communities apparently quite significantly. A main part of this research consists of comparing the region under study globally. This comparison will particularly utilise international research cooperation.

One of the group’s main research subjects is the relationship between centre and periphery. In this the networks of interaction and interdependencies have also essentially involved wielding of power, group cohesion, relationships with other population groups, territoriality, group identities and finally, ethnicity. Indeed, an interesting research subject is the question of the formation and definition of the ethnicity of the communities in the Baltic Sea Region and Scandinavia.

Communities’ cross-border networks of interaction, and interdependencies have required a concrete materialistic culture, objects and buildings, but also social institutions. Social institutions are the main link between an archaeological and historical period and anthropological research. Methods of historical research can be used to analyse the social institutions of a historical period, which in this research group are understood as social, economic, livelihood, administrative, ideological and religious structures. They are the basic mechanisms of community functions. A significant research subject in recent history is territoriality and transnational influence, particularly in economics and trade.

3. Primary research questions

Among the research group’s basic questions are: Why and how have interactive relationships and interdependencies been formed over time? A central question is: How have local communities been formed and what kinds of operating models did they acquire in their interactive relationships? Have relationships between communities been mutually equal, and on the other hand, how has their status been defined in centres? Why have some communities become stronger than others? One of the research project’s questions is: How have cross-border contacts and related messages been understood, and what significance were they given in the communities?

The research group’s goals are scientifically innovative. The social and communal impact mechanisms behind material culture have not been applied in the results of Finnish archaeological research, while modern historical research seeks to determine the long-term trends of structural development in communities and societies. In anthropological modelling of communities, there is a scarcity of source research conducted with methods used in the science of history, and therefore little consideration has been given to dimensions of time in cause-and-effect relationships. The objective of the CODE group is focused on the interface between three branches of science where the mechanisms of cross-border sociocultural changes are studied.

The results produced by the researchers in the CODE group will be applied to anthropological models of interaction, so that the interactive relationships and interdependencies of communities of the past can also be explained universally. Indeed, the general goal of the research group is to examine how theoretical models presented in anthropological research can be applied to analyse historical, archaeological and onomastic material when studying interactive relationships, territoriality and interdependencies.

The goal is to examine whether the models are applicable in the time dimension when analysing phenomena from different periods, and also in geographically different regions. In other words, is it possible to use the models which are independent of time and region to find explanations for sociocultural changes in communities?

4. Scientific merits of the researchers

The CODE group consists of altogether 17 researchers in archaeology, history, anthropology and onomastics, of which six are senior researchers, three are distinguished postdoc researchers and eight are doctoral students. They all have also formed networks, linked to their own research theme, with other researchers in the field in Finland and abroad.

The research group includes several established researchers who are specialists in their own research themes. They include research on Neolithic period communities in the Baltic Sea Region, anthropological archaeology, research on Iron Age and Mediaeval communities, historical onomastic research, saga research, research on the history of settlement and populations, history of education and research on Northern Finland’s economic, social and livelihood history.

5. Research environment

The CODE research group is part of the broader multidisciplinary Transcultural Encounters research community. CODE is also a multidisciplinary project of the University of Oulu which also utilises the university’s multifaceted infrastructure, for example in information technology. The CODE group’s researchers also collaborate with the University of Oulu’s other multidisciplinary research groups and are oriented towards creating domestic and international networks.

A significant portion of the CODE group is comprised of eight doctoral students who are at the beginning of their researcher career; they are provided with scientifically competent guidance and possibilities to join networks by the group’s members who have already forged a career in research. A primary goal of the CODE group is to create a scientifically high-quality operating environment for the doctoral students.

The idea of the research work is that the research themes of the doctoral students consist of basic research of the project. The topics are strictly limited and the research work, conducted with the help of specified source material, aims at completing doctoral theses. The research done by the doctoral students reinforces an intellectual base from which the postdoc researchers can apply results in their own research themes in parallel with the basic research. The postdoc researchers also apply multidisciplinary methods, which are also the main tools used by the senior researchers in their own research. The senior researchers are responsible for the application of multidisciplinary methodology in the CODE group’s research objectives. Thus, the doctoral students are also prepared to utilise multidisciplinary methods.

6. Position of the RC

The CODE group is one of the leading researcher groups focused on the history and archaeology of Scandinavia’s northern areas and broader arctic regions. The CODE group is also at the forefront of research on Finland’s early history and one of the strongest research groups studying Northern Finland’s history. The innovative research results already achieved by the researchers are an indication of the group’s scientific position.

The research group will continue to reinforce its collaboration with domestic universities and its formation of international networks. Collaboration is a natural part of the group’s work.

Principal Investigators:

Kuisma Korhonen (Professor)

Pekka Kuusisto (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Research Group Members:

Marjatta Armanto (Phil.lic.)

Marita Hietasaari (Ph.D)

Helena Hyöty (Ph.D)

Anthony W. Johnson (Professor)

Jyrki Korpua (Ph.D)

Silja Kukka (MA)

Kimmo Laine (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Jarkko Lauri (MA)

Ilmari Leppihalme (Phil.lic)

Jorma Mikola (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Sandra Mänty (MA)

Hanna-Leena Nissilä (Ph.D)

Jussi Ojajärvi (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Marjut Puhakka (MA)

Salla Rahikkala (MA)

Essi Rahja (MA)

Päivikki Romppainen (MA)

Kari Sallamaa (Ph.D)

Kasimir Sandbacka (MA)

Eric Sandberg (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Tomi Sirviö (MA)

Sari Tanner (MA)

Pirjo Tuomi (Phil.lic)

Nina Työlahti (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Principal Investigator:

Maija Saviniemi (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Research Group Members:

Paula Rossi (Professor)

Maria Frick (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Niina Kunnas (University Lecturer, Ph.D)

Liisa-Maria Lehto (Post Doc)

Riitta Kosunen (Lecturer)

Kirsi Lepistö (Lecturer)

Anne Saarijärvi (Doctoral student)

Elisa Risto (Doctoral student)

Heidi Niemelä (Doctoral student)

Valtteri Skantsi (Doctoral student)

Jukka Mettovaara (Doctoral student)

Markus Juutinen (Doctoral student)

The Northern Sociolinguistic Encounters research group consists of researchers of Finnish language, Nordic Philology and Sámi languages. The investigated languages are Finnish, Meänkieli, Karelian, Swedish, and Sámi languages.

The purpose of the research group is to bring a linguistic perspective to the study of historical and cultural encounters in Northern Finland and Scandinavia. Research and projects are built in such a way that they benefit in the best possible way from the interdisciplinary synergy of the group.

The community consists of three research groups:

Contested Ethnopolitical Arenas in Finnish Saamiland (CEAFS)

PI Professor Veli-Pekka Lehtola

Abstract:

The institutionalization of the Sámi movement in Finland, Norway and Sweden from the end of the 1980s was a result of gaining power by the Sámi movement. Successful legislative strategy produced new Sámi institutions, most prominently the Sámi Parliament in all three countries. The volume of activities increased, for example when positions based on the Sámi language or culture increased in municipal administration, schools and day care centers. As the earlier antagonism of the Sámi towards the state changed into a fruitful dialogue, increasing power also intensified local disagreements about both minority-majority relationships and interrelationships between the Sámi, as the “Sáminess” or ethnic belonging became a contested concept both in inter- and intra-ethnic. The official Sámi politics and also the essentialistic Sámi representations have been challenged by arguing that they dismiss the diversity of the Sámi culture and create a one-sided image of the “correct” Sáminess.

The project shall analyze the transition processes in Sámi-Finnish relations and Sámi internal relations from the 1970s to the 2000s in three levels. The legacy of the Sámi ethno-political movement is examined especially in context of the cultural and social strategies by the Sámi from the 1970s to the 1990s. The contemporary challenges of trans-cultural encounters are to be studied in contested ethno-political arenas, such as institutionalized ethno-politics in local societies, new revitalization movements among the Sámi, and Sámi education practices. Concerning new kind of identity processes, the commodifications of traditional Sámi culture shall be analyzed through e.g. Sámi music festivals, duodji (traditional handicraft) and modern design, and active consciousness of traditions.

1. The Cultural and Social Strategies in the Changing Sámi Society after the 1970s

An approach to the recent history of the Sámi society from the 1970s to the 2000s attempts to analyze the ethnopolitical history from a perspective of cultural and social strategies, reflected in Sámi politics, media, and artistic expressions. The question of inclusion and exclusion of ethnic belonging is relevant when describing the institutionalization of Sámi self-representations.

2. The Challenges of Trans-cultural Encounters in Contested Ethnopolitical Arenas

The recent situation in the 2000s is analyzed in many sectors of the Sámi society, including the revitalization processes of small Sámi groups, such as the Inari Sámi; the Sámi education structures in the light of global human rights, and the transformation of Sámi traditions, such as kinship structures and ways to use natural resources. The question of reconstructing new belongings is very relevant here.

3. Constructing Commodificating Traditional Sámi Culture as a part of Identity Policies

The modern Sámi identity is not only reflecting the traditions in transition, but e.g. the Sámi artists are also commodificating the traditions due to such institutions as Sámi festivals or even marketing. What kind of cultural and ethical aspects are involved in exploiting the collective tradition for individuals, and what kind of belongings are to be discussed? One way to study this is to concentrate on how oral traditions and archival materials, such as photographs, can be used in modern identity work.

Principal investigator:

Prof. Veli-Pekka Lehtola

Postdoctoral researchers:

D. Ph. Marko Jouste

D. Soc. Sc. Laura Junka-Aikio

D. Soc. Sc. Anni-Siiri Länsman

D. Ph. Marja-Liisa Olthuis

Doctoral researchers:

M. Soc. Sc. Ulla Aikio-Puoskari

MA Eeva-Kristiina Harlin

MA Hanna Helander

MA Bigga-Helena Magga

MA Päivi Magga

MA Sigga-Maria Magga

MA Minna Rasmus

MA Petra Rautiainen

MA Sonja Tanhua

MA Rauna Triumf

MA Anna-Liisa Väyrynen

The project focuses on developing the Saami Culture Archive at the Giellagas Institute of the University of Oulu the national centre of Saami sound archive research material in Finland. It aims to develop the research services of the infrastructure for both academic and non-academic users. We will provide research materials and facilities with information security, cultural competence, and good archive practices including international standards (IASA), legislative and ethical knowledge. The collections of Saami Culture Archive form a significant “bank of resources” for academic research in Saami language, cultural and sociological studies as well as teaching and Saami cultural work.

Home page https://giellagas.drupal.oulu.fi/en/node/18760

Besides the professor, there are fifteen other members in the group, four of them Doctors of Philosophy or Social Sciences and eleven Masters of Arts or Social Sciences. Professor Veli-Pekka Lehtola is a distinguished scholar in Sámi studies, having published 12 monographs and about 90 articles, emphasizing the Sámi-Finnish relations. D. Soc. Sc. Anni-Siiri Länsman made her dissertation in social sciences (University of Lapland) about the Sámi-Finnish relations in tourism. D. Ph. Marko Jouste is an ethnomusicologist who made his dissertation (University of Tampere) about the nearly forgotten music traditions of the Inari Sámi people. D. Ph. Marja-Liisa Olthuis is a linguist who has carried out a remarkable project revitalizing the Inari Sámi language, reflected in the joint monograph (Olthuis – Kivelä – Skutnabb-Kangas 2013). D. Ph. Laura Junka-Aikio has studied the politics and ethics of research and knowledge, anticolonial thought and practice, and the ways in which politics and the political might be rearticulated in the context of contemporary postcolonial and late modern societies.

East Asia and the West in the 19th and 20th Centuries (EAW)

PI Prof. Olavi K. Fält

Members of the research group:

• Professor Olavi K. Fält (olavi.falt(at)oulu.fi)
• Doctoral student Hanna Aranne (hanna.aranne(at)student.oulu.fi)
• Postdoctoral researcher Riika-Leena Juntunen (riiku_juntunen(at)yahoo.com)
• Postdoctoral researcher Tuula Okkonen (tuula.okkonen(at)oulu.fi)
• Postdoctoral researcher Juha Sahi (j.sahi(at)hotmail.com)
• Postdoctoral researcher Ari Uusitalo
• Docent Juha Saunavaara (juha.saunavaara(at)arc.hokudai.ac.jp) external research cooperation/partner

Ongoing research:

• Fält: Mental images and globalization as challenges in East-West relations
• Suomi ja suomalaiset Mantshukuossa. Suvereniteettitulkinnan ja strategian tasapainottelu Suomen Itä-Aasian -politiikassa (Finland and Finns in Manchukuo. Interpretation of Sovereignty and Strategic Balancing in Finnish East Asian Policy)
• Juntunen: Mobility of places and ideas in early twentieth and twenty-first century China: Theorizing spatial transfer (Ongoing postdoctoral research)
• Okkonen: Yhdysvallat ja maailman kulttuuriperinnön suojelu toisen maailmansodan ja Japanin ja Saksan miehityshallinnon kontekstissa (The United States and the protection of the world's cultural heritage in context of the Second World War and the occupations of Japan and Germany) (Ongoing postdoctoral research)
• Sahi: Suomen metsäteollisuuden vientiverkostojen evoluutio Itä- ja Kaakkois-Aasian markkinoille 1945–2020 (The evolution of the Finnish forest industry’s export networks to East and Southeast Asian markets 1945–2020) (Ongoing postdoctoral research)
• Uusitalo: United States and Philippine Independence 1930-34
• Saunavaara: Hokkaido regional development; cooperation between Arctic and northern regional governments

1. Scientific goals and innovativeness

Although the increasing interaction and mutual dependence between East Asia and the West—the first-mentioned referring mainly to China, Japan and Korean Peninsula and the latter understood roughly as the countries and societies of Europe and its descendants who share similar traditions, values, religions, etc.—are often described as distinctive phenomena characterising the past decades and especially the anticipated future, these developments cannot be described as new or ahistorical processes. While the recent trends can only be understood in connection with their historical roots, they can, however, be used as indications that speak on behalf of the importance of studying transcultural encounters and interaction in the context of East Asia. The EAW group defines transcultural encounters widely as including interaction between states, interaction between cultural phenomena, actions made in the name of a state(s), on behalf of a state(s), as well as actions of non-governmental organisations and private enterprises.

This identification is built on a solid and well-established foundation. The study of the modern history of East Asia, especially Japan, in the University of Oulu has a history of its own, dating back to the 1970s. This research has been conducted within the discipline of History in cooperation with Japanese studies and East and Southeast Asian studies and it has resulted in seven doctoral dissertations, over 30 Master’s theses, many books and an array of journal articles.

While cooperation between scholars in different stages of their career has been close throughout the years, the existence of a research group with a clear identity and aims is believed to bring added value to the existing situation. While the EAW group consists of researchers whose projects have specific spatial, temporal and thematic outlines, they are all connected with phenomena such as modernisation, westernisation, spread and spreading of values (Christianity, democracy, liberalism, capitalism, socialism, etc.) and globalisation.

These phenomena are essential parts of the historical context in which the key processes of interaction between East Asia and the Western world took place during the 19th and 20th centuries. These processes are: 1) Growing consciousness/awareness that has been interlocked with the growing interaction and increase in information; 2) Evaluation and reaction to the increase in consciousness, interaction and information; and 3) Adaptation, resistance, admiration, coexistence, conflict that has followed the original reaction and re-evaluation.

While the door is open for new focus areas, it is especially hoped that the cooperation with other research groups/individual researchers within the ‘Transcultural Encounters’ group will lead the way to comparative studies. It is believed that when the processes that have so far been studied in the context of East Asia are compared with relevant counterparts that represent different spatial and temporal contexts, both our understanding concerning the nature of the process and its special characteristics in East Asia will improve.

While many projects have been funded by personal researcher grants, it is believed that implementation of a more coordinated research plan offers possibilities for and guides toward application for project-level funding. The increasing cooperation is not to restrict individuals’ freedom of research, but to assist, for example, in creating and consolidating relations between researchers in Oulu and abroad, especially in the East Asian region.

In general, the EAW group strives for recognition as one of the leading Asian studies groups in Finland and the Nordic countries. In its focus areas, the group aims at global recognition. In addition, continuous participation in popular discussion concerning Asia in the role of an expert is found an important and highly valued function. The surge in general knowledge and interest in Asia has both increased the need for specialists’ input to the discussion and raised the bar for the content of these inputs.

2. Scientific merits and research environment

The research group’s publications and success in the competition for research funding are the main indicators verifying the high level of significance and quality. In addition, it can be assumed that the existing international cooperation speaks on behalf of the appreciation felt toward the research group and its individual members.

Regional studies are multi- and interdisciplinary almost by definition. In addition, international cooperation comes as a standard when a Finland-based research group studies East Asia. Each individual member of the research group already has their established contacts in East Asia and also has fieldwork experience. Therefore, it can be argued that the members of the group are already familiar with the research environment that is formed by the network of institutions, organisations and individual actors located not only in Oulu or Finland, but also in different parts of East Asia and the rest of the world.

3. Position of the research group in the field

Individual members of the EAW group are already known among the specialists of their fields. They have participated actively in international conferences and have other types of dialogue with their colleagues around the world. While the Department of History, University of Oulu, is nationally recognised as a location where studies on East Asia, especially Japan, are conducted, international visibility has come through the acts of individual researchers and through organised international symposiums; for example, ‘Japan and Finland in Transition, 1945–1990’ in 2009.

Furthermore the EAW group has hosted several visiting scholars from different East Asian universities. These visitors have not only contributed to the research conducted in Oulu, but their knowhow has also been integrated into the teaching of History, Japanese studies and East and Southeast Asian studies. The research group’s contacts in East Asia concentrate on Japan. Osaka University, Meijo University, Hokkaido University, Keio University, Hitotsubashi University and the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) are examples of institutions with whom the group is actively cooperating.

Trans-Atlantic Impacts (TAI)

Principal investigator Henry Oinas-Kukkonen, Ph.D, title of docent, university lecturer, History

Major research project: "Plans to Settle Finnish World War II Refugees in Alaska"

Steven Coats, university lecturer, English Philology

Current work involves: (1) Creation and analysis of language corpora from social media. (2) Non-standard language, sociolinguistics, dialectology, morphology, typology

Ari Helo, Ph.D, university lecturer, History of ideas and science/American Studies

Major research project (1): Reading American History (a joint book project on American historiography with Allan Megill, UVa).

Major research project (2): The Politics of American Egalitarianism from a European Perspective.

Hanna Honkamäkilä, doctoral student, History of ideas and science

Research interest: Scientific co-operation between the United States and Finland after the Second World War. Her cases will take a closer look to the development of the University of Oulu, founded 1958.

Katrin Korkalainen, doctoral student, English Philology

Project: Jewish-American Immigrant Literature, 1880s – 1920s: The Experience of Eastern European Jews on New York’s Lower East Side

Matti Mäntylä, Ph.D, History

Project: President Urho Kekkonen and the United States, 1956-1981

Joni Partanen, doctoral student, History

His doctoral thesis examines the international co-operation of atomic sciences and how the growing attention of the studies of low doses of radioactive radiation has evolved between and after two calamitous nuclear accidents, the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and Fukushima accident in 2011. The role of the American scientists is essential in the history of atomic sciences. Americans have been key part of the many international atomic study projects and thus they have created strong transatlantic ties with many European countries.

Eric Sandberg, University Lecturer, English Philology

Major research areas are British and American Crime fiction; the intersection of cultural prestige, prize culture, and adaptation; and 20th and 21st century British and American fiction. He is currently working on a study of the role of the Atlantic crossing in P. G. Wodehouse’s comic novels.

The Research

The trans-Atlantic experience has profound implications on both shores. People, their ideas and constructions have overcome barriers and met, conflicted and blended together. Instead of over-generalizing or labeling cultures with stereotypical or subjective characterizations Trans-Atlantic Impacts (TAI) research group focuses on explaining the traits and events of the trans-Atlantic sphere and their implications in comparison and contrast with the rest of the world. We have five key issues to address.

Constructing communities: On both sides of the Atlantic people have constructed and imagined communities in intimate political, economic, and ideological interaction with one another since the Columbian encounter. From the Native American trading towns that grew in response to commerce with the European newcomers to the emergence of online communities at the turn of the twenty-first century, trans-Atlantic connections and impacts have crucially shaped the ways in which people relate to one another, assert authority, and envision themselves as local, ethnic, political, ideological, and virtual communities.

Information, communication and networks: Interpreting trans-Atlantic connections and communication has a long history. Instead of triangular trade routes of the past there are Open Skies in the trans-Atlantic sphere today. Increasing pressures and opportunities of globalization have made transnational and international networks invaluable large-scale resources for the major trans-Atlantic economic powers, as well as for various communities. New media and networks have intensified the flow of information and acquisition of knowledge on both sides of the Atlantic. Unexpected frameworks for innovation, social collaboration and cultural change have been created in the trans-Atlantic sphere. These processes and phenomena are impacting the attitudes and value systems of individuals and communities, as evidenced, for instance, by their communicative behavior, including the language they produce.

Ideas in motion: The eastern as well as the western shores of the Atlantic have been platforms for concepts, innovations, ideas and ideologies, which have crossed the ocean to be adopted on the opposite shore. People have put words into action in the cause of shared beliefs, as well as shared beliefs into words and texts, but they have also had fundamental disagreements over issues which continue to cause major trans-Atlantic rifts.

Transforming nations and states: There are multiple ways to conceive and conceptualize entities such as nation, nationality and state throughout the Atlantic world. The project considers the birth of the modern understanding of federalism in the American early national period and its roots in the early modern European natural law tradition; the interplay between Native and European peoples in constructing both indigenous and Euro-American nations and political ideologies; and the impact of U.S. federalism on the current debates over federalism in the EU.

Intervention, aid and democratization: Major players in the trans-Atlantic sphere have encroached upon the matters of others. States, institutions, communities and even individuals have tried to intervene and influence others in issues ranging from individualism to open source software development and the politics of diversity and multiculturalism. Trans-Atlantic interventions have become intertwined in global turning points like World Wars and some of the major impacts have included international aid and democratization.

Contact

Dr. Henry Oinas-Kukkonen
Faculty of Humanities, History
P.O. Box 1000
FIN-90014 University of Oulu
Finland

henry.oinas-kukkonen(at)oulu.fi

Professor Kari Alenius has studied the impact of social identities on cultural encounters from a multidisciplinary viewpoint. In his research he has applied the methods of historical image research, social psychology, rhetorical research and propaganda research. He has focused especially on ethnic and national stereotypes and their reflection on group relations within communities and between states in Europe in the 1800s and 1900s.

University Lecturer Matti Enbuske’s research interests have focused especially on the history of settlement and populations, identity and the environment in Northern regions. Within this framework his research themes have emphasised relationships between power and periphery and understanding the operating mechanisms of communities during various times in history.

Professor Olavi K. Fält’s books and articles specialise in the study of cross-cultural encounters in practice and in theory, especially from the viewpoint of historical mental-image studies and the history of globalisation. His particular specialisations have been the history of Japan since the 1850s, the mental image of Japan in the Western world, nationalism in the 1930s and the image of the Emperor. He has also published articles on media ethics and networks in cross-cultural contexts.

University Lecturer Maija Kallinen has studied learned cultures and institutions in the early modern era, especially encounters between Aristotelian, Cartesian and Newtonian cultures of learning. She has also focused on studying interactions between learned and popular cultures. She is the president of the organising committee of the Science as a Profession. The 26th Baltic Conference for the History of Science congress.

Professor Kuisma Korhonen’s research specialisations are comparative study of literature and literature’s relationship to history and philosophy. He has studied literary encounters, reading and communality and literature’s ways of recording communal memory. He is the author of numerous monographs, essays and articles on literature, philosophy and cultural memory, written in Finnish, English and French, and translated into German and Norwegian.

Head of the TCERC, University Lecturer Pekka Kuusisto specialises in comparative research on interrelations of literature in areas of, e.g., literature and science and literature and philosophy, and he has collaborated in the Nordic Dante Network/NEDANTEN and the IAPL (International Association for Philosophy and Literature). He has published articles on Dante, literary encyclopaedism and science fiction.

Professor Veli-Pekka Lehtola, is a distinguished scholar in Sámi studies, having published 12 monographs and about 70 articles emphasising Sámi-Finnish relations. His research touches all the themes dealt with in the Transcultural Encounters research project, from transnational encounters to cultural memory and representations. Lehtola has strong experience in combining academic and social competence: not only does he have academic merits as a researcher, he is also societally active.

University Lecturer Henry Oinas-Kukkonen is specialised in historical research dealing with international relations, particularly the relations between the United States and the rest of the world. In his studies of recent history and historical methodology he emphasises a multidisciplinary approach and well-rounded use of primary sources. He has studied the history of information and communication technologies, concentrating on the history of the Internet, the spread of innovations and information networks.

Researcher profile