The seminar aims to bring together researchers and advanced students who are interested in research about the Nordic region. We meet every second Thursday to discuss Nordic research from various disciplines, such as history, social science, cultural studies or literature.
Where: The seminar is held at Unioninkatu 38, Topelia A206
When: Every second Thursday, at 16:15–17:45
For whom?: Everyone who is interested in Nordic research, may join the seminar!
As material is distributed beforehand, you are advised to join the e-mail list of the seminar before attending. To do so, please contact the coordinator Olli Castrén
We ask that the title of the presentation is sent to the coordinator at least two weeks before the presentation. The paper must be sent no later than one week before the presentation. All materials can be sent to the current seminar coordinator.
All presented papers are distributed via email to regular seminar participants. Upon request, papers are also distributed to members of the CENS mailing list.
Requirements for the papers
The seminar starts with a short presentation of the paper by the presenter. The presentation should be max. 10 min.
Afterwards, the paper is the subject of general discussion. Everybody is encouraged to ask questions and to make comments. Comments from researchers of all career stages are valued equally. We also welcome people who only would like to listen, to attend the seminar.
All comments and questions should be raised in a constructive, polite, and encouraging manner. The aim of the seminar is to provide a friendly and open atmosphere in which every kind of research on every production and scholarly level might be shared in a professional but relaxed environment.
The seminar usually ends in a post-seminar at the “Thirsty Scholar”. Every participant is invited to join the group and continue the discussion!
22. January
Mikael Björk-Winberg
5. February
Maiju Wuokko
19. February
Tuire Liimatainen
5. March
Jana Lainto
Explore our seminar archive to view topics and presenters from previous seminar sessions!
30. January
Jana Lainto: “A Failed Transfer?: Institutionalizing Danish Agricultural Practices before World War I”.
[and]
Otso Kortekangas: “The Manifold Meanings of Forests in Comprehensive education in the Nordics 1972–2023” (MaMeFo).
6. February
Byron Rom Jensen: “The Nordic Investment Bank through 50 Years”.
13. February
Hasan Akintug: “Åland, Greenland, and the Faroese in Nordic Cooperation After 2007: End of the Line?”.
27. February
Lars Lundsten: “RÚV and Svenska Yle as nation builders – Public service broadcasting performance in the service of two Nordic miniature nations”.
[and]
Johan Strang: “Nation-building and democratisation: Milestones of Nordic political history until 1990”.
27. March
Arendse Wenzel Måge: “Saving Iceland from the Brink of Ruin: Climate, History, and Agency in the 18th -Century Icelandic Improvement Debate”.
10. April
Sami Koskelainen: “Chapter 1: Pursuing internationality – FAF in the 1980s”.
24. April
Working group (Maiju Wuokko, Ilkka Kärrylä, Maika Absetz, Olli Castrén, lead by Johan Strang): “Securitised economy, economised security? Securitisation and economisation of policymaking in Finland, 1990s–2020s (SEES)”.
8. May
Tuire Liimatainen: ““Finns always carry a knife”: Renegotiating stereotypes in contemporary Sweden-Finnish identity politics”.
22. May
Doğan Demirkıran: “Chapter I: Theoretical Framework: The Concept of Small States and Alliance Theories”.
29. May
Fredrik Forrai Ørskov: Idea paper regarding the Nordic Council’s 75 year’s anniversary publication.
- summer brake -
18. September
Maika Absetz: “3. Inflation and unemployment theories in flux” [chapter in monography].
2. October
Hasan Akintug: “The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Security Policy and the Nordic Autonomous Territories During an Era of Increasing Tensions”.
[and]
Maja Hagerman: “Sweden: At the institute for race biology 1922 – 1925".
9. October
Johan Strang: “The Nordic Welfare State: A Social Democratic Model?”.
23. October
Pierluigi Marinucci: “Austro-Keynesianism and the Political Economy of Bruno Kreisky: A Distinct Path in Late Twentieth-Century Social Democracy”.
6. November
Hasan Akintug: “Canada and the Nordic countries: Newfound neighbours in the Arctic?”.
13. November
Sophie Holm: “A Tranquillity of the North? Conceptualizations of peace in eighteenth-century treaty diplomacy”.
27. November
Sami Koskelainen: Draft for the conclusions of a monograph dissertation.
18. January
Peter Stadius: “State civil servants and voluntary Nordic cooperation: The Nordic Federation of Public Administration 1919-1952".
1. February
Olli Castrén: Overview of a research plan.
[and]
Johan Strang (Ilkka Kärrylä and Jesper Vestermark Køber): “Neoliberalism and the judicialization of Nordic democracy”.
15. February
Sami Koskelainen: “Playing catch-up: conceptualising Finland’s relationship with football” (chapter in dissertation).
[and]
Lars Lundsten: “Synlig och Osynlig Etnicitet – Island och Svenskfinland som föreställda gemenskaper”.
29. February
Maja Hagerman: “Chapter 1. Introduction” (chapter in dissertation).
14. March
Jana Lainto: “Finding “Greatness” in Denmark” (chapter in dissertation).
28. March
Tuire Liimatainen: “Nation Within and Beyond: Constructing Diaspora and Nation in the Finnish Diaspora Policy”.
11. April
Lars Lundsten: “The oblivious watchdog – Icelandic journalism as dormant societal institution”.
[and]
Peter Stadius. “Nordic Cooperation during the Second World War”.
[and]
25. April
Joonas Pörsti: “The anti-Islamic rhetoric of the Sweden Democrats, 1988–2022”.
8. May
Hasan Akintug: “Defending the Faith? Demilitarized Åland in NATO Finland”. Paper Presented at the International Political Science Association (IPSA)’s 75. Anniversary Conference in Montreal, Canada. April 25-26, 2024.
[and]
Jaakko Seppälä: “Chapter 6: From Nostalgia to Reassessment of the Past”.
16. May
Martin Petterson: “The immaterialization of wellbeing Quality of life in Finnish parliamentary debates since the 1970s”.
[and]
Maiju Wuokko, Elina Kuorelahti & Niklas Jensen-Eriksen: “Makers or Breakers? Finnish Employers and the Centralized Labor Market Model, 1940s–2020s”.
- Summer break -
5. September
Johan Strang: “The neoliberal mobilization of law, constitutionalism and individual rights in Sweden (and the Nordic countries) 1980-2000".
Tiina Poutiainen: “Exploring the Influence of Social and Mainstream Media on Democracy: A Case Study of Finnish online activism in drug policy and environmental causes”.
19. September
Hasan Akintug: “The 2024 European Parliament Elections: Åland and Territorial Autonomy Representation in the European Union”.
3. October
Maiju Wuokko: “Historical Research on Business Power and Influence: Introduction to the Special Issue”.
[and]
Andrew G. Newby: ““Denmark’s Duty!” – Famine and Danish Colonialism in the Nineteenth Century”.
17. October
Sami Koskelainen: “Introduction” (chapter in dissertation).
[and]
Hasan Akintug: “Åland, Norden, and Europe in the early Post Cold War Era 1989-1995".
31. October
Louice Bådholm: “Marknadspraktiker och skattefri konsumtion 1957–1991” (chapter in dissertation).
21. November
Jana Lainto: “5. Spreading the Word: Transfer in Practice”.
28. November
Tuire Liimatainen: “Everyday Situated Experiences of Belonging among Finnish Migrants within Intra-Nordic Migration (INOM)”.
12. December
Tiina Poutiainen: “Critical Reflections on the Finnish Parliamentary Debates on Citizens’ Initiatives for Drug Policy Reforms from Perspectives of People Who Use Drugs and Harm Reduction”.
15. September
Sidsel Eriksen
29. September
Jana Lainto and Eirik Sudvall
13. October
Jaako Seppälä and Johan Strang
10. November
Christian Souander and Mats Wickström
24. November
Tuire Liimatainen
1. December
Tore Rem and Fred Oerskov
8. December
Sophie Holm
Seminar coordinator in 2022: Hasan Akintug,
17. January
Jani Marjanen and Johan Strang: “Rhetorics of Nordicness”
31. January
Tuire Liimatainen: “From Inbetweenness to Invisibility: Changing Representations of Sweden-Finnish Authors”.
14. February
Matilda af Hällström: “Lost and Found: Nordic Identity and Peace in the post-Cold War Era”.
28. February
Heidi Haggrén: “Conflicting Loyalties: Nurses’ Collective Organization in Finland”
14. March
Lysiane Lasausse: “Game Noir: reimagining the negatives of the Nordic image”
28. March
Jana Lainto: “‘A Small Nation Once Feared by the Whole of Europe’: Portraying Sweden in Czech Travelogues of the Late 19th century”.
11. April
Peter Stadius
25. April
Frederik Forrai Ørskov
Summer break -
19. September
Johan Strang: The Rhetoric of Nordic Cooperation
3. October
POSTPONED: Maja Hagerman: “The Gaze of the Racial Biologist. Collaboration over national borders within the scientific network for racial hygiene in 1910- 1935"
17. October
Paula Merikoski: “Contentious hospitality and resistance in home accommodation of asylum seekers in Finland”.
31. October
Tuire Liimatainen: “Multidimensional perspectives on Sweden-Finnishness".
14. November
Lysiane Lasausse et. al.: “Negotiating the Nordic – approaches to regionality in video games” / Frederik Forrai Ørskov: “Intellectual Collaboration: Nordic Intellectuals in Nazi Cultural Internationalism, 1933-45”.
28. November
Jana Lainto
5. December
Maja Hagerman: “The Gaze of the Racial Biologist. Collaboration over national borders within the scientific network for racial hygiene in 1910- 1935".
Seminar coordinator in 2019: Frederik Forrai Ørskov,
18. January
Merle Wessel: “Balls to the Wind – Castration of Sex Offenders in Germany and the Nordic Countries, ca. 1930-2000“.
15. February
Jana Lainto: “Arnošt Kraus as a Mediator of Danish Culture in the Czech lands/Czechoslovakia, 1890s – 1930s”.
1. March
Maïmouna Jagne-Soreau: “Postmigration literature in the Nordic countries”.
15. March NO SEMINAR
5. April
Katarina Pettersson: “Save the nation! A social psychological study of political blogs as a medium for nationalist communication and persuasion”.
19. April
Corinna Casi: “Sami Traditions and Food (In)security in the Arctic”.
- summer break -
20. September
Peter Stadius: “The Norden Associations – Hundred years of promoting Nordism”.
4. October
Nemanja Nenadovic: “Family Language Policy of Transnational and Immigrant Multilingual Families in the Swedish-speaking areas of Finland”
18. October
Mikael Björk-Winberg: ““Eviva Garibaldi, il nostro liberatore!” Fennomania, Scandinavism and Liberalism in the correspondence of Emil von Qvanten in the 1850s and 1860s“.
1. November
Sara Cederberg: “The battle for modernism” (From the PhD Thesis: “The re-enchantment of culture: the literary debate in Sweden 1960-1980”).
15. November
Frederik Forrai Ørskov: “Revisiting the early Nordic Peace Movement: Fredrik Bajer and the Pan-Scandinavian Origins of “Nordic Peace”.
29. November
Aura Kostiainen: “The Nordic countries as the future horizon in the Finnish Criminal Law Committee work 1972–1976”.
13. December
Pikkujoulut/Lilla jul (starting at 5 pm)
18. January
Ainur Elmgren: “’The Jesuits of Our Time’ – The Jesuit Stereotype and the Revolutionary Year 1917 in Finland”.
Please note the different time and place! This seminar session will be held on Wednesday January 18th at 16:15-17:45 at Unioninkatu 38 D113)
2. February
Mojibur Doftori: “Adapting Nordic Popular Education Model in Developing Countries: A Study on Study Circles in Bangladesh, Chile and Tanzania”.
16. February
Akif Cem Özkardes: “Euroscepticism: Achilles’ heel of Europe? How do Icelandic and Finnish Euroscepticisms differ from each other in terms of their characteristics and causes?”.
2. March
Alan Granadino: “From Utopia to IKEA – The Brand ‘Nordic Model’ in the Spanish Left in the 1970s and the 2010s”.
16. March
Corinna Casi: “The Value of Barents Region: Ethical and Ecological considerations on the Non-Economic value of its Natural Environment”.
30. March
Tuuli From: “Language as symbolic capital in a bilingual school space in Finland and Sweden”.
13. April
Ainur Elmgren: “En folkfront för folkväldet – 1930-talets intellektuella mellan statsmakten och de medborgerliga rättigheterna”/”Human Rights Before the Fact – A Finnish Journalist’s Evolving Struggle for Rights and Liberties in 1932-1939”.
27. April
Elina Hakoniemi: “”Democracy of Bildung” in social democratic educational ideas ca. 1945-1970″.
11. May
Eija Stark: “Minorities in majority folktales and proverbs”.
- summer break -
14. September
Merle Wessel: “Primodos in Finland. A Bioethical Case Study”.
28. September
Eija Niskanen: “Moomin’s Adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun – Tove Jansson and Japan” + Presentation of Science Basement .
12. October
Alan Granadino: “In search of a model. PSOE-SAP relations during the Spanish transition to democracy”
9. November CANCELLED!
23. November
Louis Clerc: “Still the Cinderella Service? Perspectives on the Contemporary History of Nordic Consular Services”.
7. December
Andrew Newby: “Our Brothers’ Misfortune”: Famine Relief and Scandinavian Identity 1856-68".
21. December
Ainur Elmgren: “Our Secret Weapon – Minority Strategies of the Finnish Tatars 1890-1960”.
Seminar coordinator in 2017: Tuire Liimatainen,
3. March
Jani Marjanen. “The Concept of Nationalism in Late Nineteenth Century and Early Twentieth Century Finnish Newspapers”.
17. March
Miika Tervonen: “Roma migrants and Nordic migration regimes: points of historical
comparison, 1860-1956”.
31. March (14-16, Unioninkatu 40, Sali 30!!)
Elina Hakoniemi: “Education for the Class, the Society and the Welfare State – Social Democratic Educational Ideas in Finland and Sweden 1890–1970”.
14. April
Mats Fridlund: “The imagineered community: The mutual shaping of Swedish industrial nationalism, national power and electrification”.
28. April
Kristina Malmio: “Senmodern spatialitet i finlandssvensk prosa 1990–2010” (Paper in Swedish, presentation and discussion in English).
- Summer break -
1. September
Ilkka Kärrylä – “From Democratization to Deregulation: The flourishing and fall of economic democracy in Finnish politics”.
29. September
Sophy Bergenheim. “Non-governmental expert organisations, crisis and underdog trauma: Constructing public health and the ‘folk’”.
13. October
Jana Lainto – “From Heretic Warriors to Beacons of Modernity: The Image of the Nordic Countries in the Central Europe”
27. October
Elina Hakoniemi: “Educational progress narratives in the social democratic labour movement of Finland”.
10. November
Sophie Holm: “‘…the King answers by himself in Swedish’ – The languages of diplomacy in eighteenth-century Sweden”.
24. November
Tuire Liimatainen: “Identity and representation among third generation Sweden Finns” and Merle Wessel – ”Eugenics and Feminism – Concepts of Body, Sexuality and Citizenship”.
8. December: No seminar