- HSSH attented a philosophy workshop at the Lammi Biological Station
- 5.3.2025 HSSH workshop on motion energy and pose analysis
- HSSH Interlab celebrates first biennial
- Brown Bag Seminar every Tuesday at 12.15 – next session with Ingrid Schoon on 26.2. (today!)
- Digital Humanities early career välipala
- Save the date: Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon #DHH25 14.-23.5.2025
- 5.–7.3.2025 5th Helsinki Conference of Emotions, Populism and Polarisation
- Methodology of philosophy (2.-4.6.2025) — call for papers dl 15.3.
- 7.–8.4. Workshopping Conference in Utrecht: Making a Difference. Societal Impact through Collaborative Research
- 24.–25.5. Finnish conference on grief (Surukonferenssi) in Tampere
- 11.3. RESET seminar: On Fossil Capitalism and What Comes After It
HSSH attented a philosophy workshop at the Lammi Biological Station
HSSH University Researchers Matti Pohjonen and Sointu Leikas as well as HSSH Vice Director and Research Coordinator Pekka Mäkelä participated in a workshop on the Predictability in the Social Sciences organized jointly by HSSH and Jaakko Kuorikoski along with the UH Practical Philosophy staff at Lammi Biological Station in February. Germans Savcisens from the Northwestern University (Boston, US) presented his mortality-prediction algorithm that received wide attention and was published in the Nature Computational Science. Matti and Sointu gave presentations focusing on challenges of prediction and inference in their own fields.
5.3.2025 HSSH workshop on motion energy and pose analysis
Motion Energy Analysis (MEA) is a procedure that allows to automatically assess the amount of persons' movement from video recordings. It can be used to investigate individual activation or occurrences of simultaneous movement, often in the context of verbal or nonverbal interpersonal synchrony.
Two major methodologies are used for the video-based tracking. Frame-differencing methods (such as MEA/rMEA) capture human motion in a plane or a region, while computer vision methods such as OpenPose captures motion using points, automatically detecting the 2D coordinates of the face and the joint parts of the human body.
In this half-day workshop, we will cover the background, installation and usage of these programs, along with overview on their research use cases. In second part, we will demonstrate analysis process from start to finish using these tools.
Workshop is targeted for UH Centre Campus researchers, but everyone is welcome. To use these programs yourself, you need a computer with admin installation rights. No previous technical knowledge is required. More information and sign up at: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/133843/lomakkeet.html
5.3.2025 10:15-15:00 Seminar room 524, Fabianinkatu 24 A (access via door, not courtyard), 5th floor.
Online participation at Zoom: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/68461562690?pwd=1l99jEYLrN6ShJDIKuHTzw0Z50ozOD.1 Passcode665578
HSSH Interlab celebrates first biennial
Interlab is a joint laboratory managed by HSSH, and dedicated to multimodal individual and interpersonal research in situ or in the field, available for all researchers at the City Centre Campus located in Metsätalo building (Unioninkatu 40), room C421.
In addition to facilities of acquiring, editing and transcribing audiovisual material, Interlab offers permanently installed easy-access capacity for VR and 360 degree video analysis, with:
CAVA360VR: Collaborate, Annotate, Visualise, Analyse 360 video in VR for immersive qualitative analytics and in in VR multi-user for live data sessions. (See: Vatanen, A., Spets, H., Siromaa, M., Rauniomaa, M., & Keisanen, T. (2022). Experiences in Collecting 360 Video Data and Collaborating Remotely in Virtual Reality. QuiViRR: Qualitative Video Research Reports, 3).
Interlab welcomes all old and new users, book a consultation session! Visit the Interlab website for more information.
Brown Bag Seminar every Tuesday at 12.15 – next session with Visiting Professor Ingrid Schoon on 26.2. (today!)
The Methodological Unit of HSSH hosts a weekly event, Brown Bag Seminar, to highlight novel methodological approaches in humanities and social sciences.
The seminars are organized as hybrid events. You’re warmly welcome to join us at the HSSH Seminar Room, Fabianinkatu 24 A, room 524, 5th floor (access via door, not courtyard due to renovations), or on Zoom.
Click here to add the Brown Bag Seminar events directly to your calendar (.ics file).
According to a researcher at the Methodological Unit, Matti Pohjonen, the idea of the meetings “is to introduce methodological innovations and cutting-edge research in various disciplines in an easily accessible manner and have an interdisciplinary discussion in an easy-going atmosphere over lunch.”
Every Wednesday at 12.15. Today, 26.2., Visiting Professor Ingrid Schoon is giving a talk titled “Ideal Types and Fuzzy Lives: Mapping Youth Transitions Over Time” and next week on Wednesday 5.2. Jaakko Kuorikoski and Samuli Reijula will talk about “Explanation, Prediction, and Understanding in Computational Social Science”.
Read more about the event on our website!
Digital Humanities early career välipala
Digital Humanities early career välipala is a monthly meet-up for early career humanities and social sciences researchers. It offers a free form opportunity to discuss and share experiences of digital methods in research. The focus is on digital good practices, stumbling blocks and tricks regarding use of data, tools and analysis methods.
Snacks will be provided in the form of insights on new methods, best practice testimonials… and cake!
Välipalat Spring 2025:
18.2. Historical sources and network analysis
18.3. Digital ethnographers and folklorists, how to analyse data?
22.4. Digitizing your own data? Whats and what-nots
23.5. Fieldtrip: Digital Humanities Hackathon
Welcome from 3 to 4 pm at Metsätalo UniCafe!
The DH välipalat are organised by and for PhD and early-career researchers. We are a group of interdisciplinary folk based in Helsinki supported by DARIAH-FI The digital research infrastructure for the arts and humanities. Inquiries can be sent to ines.matres@helsinki.fi.
About this event: https://dariah.fi/event/valipala
Save the date: Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon #DHH25 14.-23.5.2025
Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon #DHH25 14.–23.5.2025
Join us to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the award-winning Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon 2025—an exciting chance to collaborate, innovate and push your own boundaries. Apply and be part of this milestone event!
Helsinki Digital Humanities Hackathon #DHH25 will be organised 14.–23.5.2025 as CLARIN and DARIAH international summer school. The event will be organized as an in-person hackathon.
Participation to #DHH25 is free to all accepted participants. In addition, we will have bursaries for travel and lodging.
5 ECTS credits may be gained from participating in the hackathon for students in University of Helsinki and other universities.
Application schedule for #DHH25:
* 13.3.–12.4.2025 Application period
* 16.4.2025 Applicants informed of acceptance
* 16.–23.4.2025 Registration to #DHH25 for accepted participants
* 14.–23.5.2025 #DHH25 hackathon in Helsinki
Further information about hackathon themes, data and team leaders will follow in due course
Save the date and spread the word!
5.–7.3.2025 5th Helsinki Conference of Emotions, Populism and Polarisation
We are proud to announce that the 5th Helsinki Conference on Emotions, Populism, and Polarisation (HEPP5) will take place on 5-7 March 2025. This hybrid event will bring over 200 scholars together from around the world, working on an extraordinarily broad range of topics within the nexus of populist mobilization and the media. Our commitment to holding hybrid conferences has significantly increased their accessibility, and we are very happy to have participants from every continent except Antarctica taking part in HEPP5.
This also enables us to invite scholars from University of Helsinki to the virtual side. Please email hepp@helsinki.fi for access. Two events are hosted in the Think Corner Tuesday 4 March at 17-18 and Friday 7 March at 13-15.
This time, the event draws particularly on the research group’s work on the Social Contract in the CO3 Horizon project, and resilience, from the Trans-Atlantic Platform ENDURE project. We are very excited to welcome our three keynote speakers: Dr. Marina Prentoulis, Dr. Asel Doolotkeldieva, and Dr. Allan Dreyer Hansen, all of whose speeches will be streamed live to the public. You can read more about them and their talks on our Keynote Speakers page.
If you’d like to watch the keynote addresses, follow our activities, and look out for our HEPP6 (scheduled for May 2026) CfP in the fall, we warmly invite you to follow us on social media.
Methodology of philosophy (2.-4.6.2025) — call for papers dl 15.3.
Welcome to Method and Convergence — International Conference on Methodology of Philosophy 2-4 June 2025, University of Helsinki, Finland
This conference brings together thinkers exploring philosophical methodology from different viewpoints. The focus is on the question of what kind of methodology could foster progress in philosophy, and on the question of how philosophy could foster progress in science. The conference will address these and other questions under the following themes:
- Methodology and progress of philosophy in general
- How can philosophy foster progress in science?
- How can AI (artificial intelligence) foster progress or accelerate research in science and philosophy?
- How can scientific methods foster progress in philosophy?
- Evaluation criteria for philosophical theories
- From pluralism to syntheses
- Philosophical theories as axiomatic systems
- Invention of ontological commitments
- Causal-mechanical explanations in philosophy
- Experimental philosophy
- Forms of peer review bias and their resolutions
THE CALL FOR PAPERS IS OPEN:
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/method-and-convergence-2025/call-papers-open
Please send your abstract by March 15, 2025. You will be informed of the approval of your speech in the conference by March 31.
The conference is organized by the University of Helsinki research project "Appearance and Reality in Physics and Beyond" that started in June 2023. The project is located in the Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies.
The Organising Committee:
- Avril Styrman (chair), University of Helsinki
- Rögnvaldur Ingthorsson (vice-chair), University of Helsinki
- Paavo Pylkkänen, University of Helsinki
- Marja-Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila, Aalto University
- Anssi Korhonen, University of Helsinki
- Mirja-Leena Zgurskaya (conference secretary), University of Helsinki
- Eetu Sipilä (conference secretary), University of Helsinki
In cooperation with Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, Physics Foundations Society, Philosophical Society of Finland, The Finnish Society for Natural Philosophy, and The Finnish Society for the History of Science and Learning.
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/method-and-convergence-2025
7.–8.4. Workshopping Conference in Utrecht: Making a Difference. Societal Impact through Collaborative Research
During this two-day conference, Data School seeks to connect academia and professional practice through joint engagement with urgent questions about technology within social- and organisational contexts. Rather than engaging in hype-driven discussions about ‘Big Data’ and ‘AI’, the focus is on the concrete challenges posed by ongoing socio-technical changes in public administration and media organisations.
Data School organises this workshop-driven conference to foster long-term collaborative research partnerships between academia and the professional field. Keynote speakers are Payal Arora (Utrecht University), Rob Kitchin (Maynooth University), and Minna Ruckenstein (University of Helsinki).
24.–25.5. Finnish conference on grief (Surukonferenssi) in Tampere
Please note! The conference is in Finnish only.
The aim of the conference is to increase awareness of grief and support for those who are grieving, as well as to highlight Finnish research on death and dying. The conference also seeks to provide an opportunity for interaction for those who have lost a loved one and for professionals who encounter grieving individuals in their work.
The conference is intended for professionals in the social and healthcare sectors, education and teaching fields, and church communities, as well as for others who work with grieving individuals and those who have experienced the loss of a loved one. It is also aimed at researchers and experts studying grief and death.
Click here for more information and registration.
11.3. RESET seminar: On Fossil Capitalism and What Comes After It
Tuesday, 11 March 2025. 10h - 15h
Athena 302 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A)
The Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities (HSSH), The Finnish Karl Marx Society, and Resilient and Just Systems (RESET) are jointly organizing a seminar on fossil capitalism and degrowth perspectives. The seminar will feature two international guest speakers, HSSH Visiting Professor Kohei Saito and Professor Markus Wissen from the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
Programme
10:00 - 10:10 Michiru Nagatsu: Opening remarks
10:10 - 10:40 Markus Wissen: “The Imperial Mode of Living”
10:40 - 11:10 Sakari Säynäjoki: “Beyond Primary Energy Myopia”
11:10 - 12:00 Discussion
Break
13:00 - 13:30 Kohei Saito: “Ecological Freedom in Marx”
13:30- 14:00 Riina Bhatia: “Pluriverse and transitions – towards diverse locality?”
14:00 - 15:00 Discussion
The event is open to everyone and will also be live-streamed. Registration is required.
Registration form: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/134013/lomake.html
UniTube link: https://video.helsinki.fi/unitube/live-stream.html?room=l38
Speakers’ bios
Kohei Saito is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo and HSSH Visiting Professor at the University of Helsinki. His work centres on ecology and political economy from a Marxist perspective. His recent best-selling book, Slow Down (Astra House, 2024, Japanese edition 2020), has been credited with sparking a resurgence of interest in Marxist thought throughout Japan and internationally. His other widely credited works include Marx in the Anthropocene (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and Karl Marx's Ecosocialism (Monthly Review Press, 2017).
Markus Wissen is Professor of Social Sciences specializing in socio-ecological transformation at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. He has held positions at several research institutes and universities, focusing on political ecology. His research interests include the socio-ecological transformation of modes of production and consumption, as well as crises and transformations in society-nature relations. His book The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism (2021), co-authored with Ulrich Brand, has attracted wide interest and sparked extensive debate in Germany and internationally. Professor Wissen is visiting the University of Helsinki as a guest of the Finnish Karl Marx Society.