Research and Cooperation Highlighted in the Inauguration of the John Morton Center for North American Studies
Located in Turku, the national center for North American studies is important in promoting trade and international relations.
The programme in the inauguration of the John Morton Center 29 April included greetings and speeches.
The planning for the establishment of the center began in 2012. Emeritus Professor of the University of Turku Keijo Virtanen, who was involved in the center’s working group, stated in his speech that it was important to establish the center in Turku.
– Research and teaching on North America is active in the University of Turku, so establishing the center here was highly reasonable.
As the representative of the city of Turku, Pekka Sundman highlighted the center’s importance for economic life.
– The center is a significant promoter of trade and international relations. In addition, it makes Turku and the Turku region more known internationally.
The main speech in the inauguration was held by Professor William Kaufman from the University of Central Lancashire. The American, Canadian and Mexican ambassadors to Finland presented their greetings on video.
The center is named after the signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, who was of Finnish descent. The objective of the center is to promote knowledge of North America by supporting research, education and cooperation between the institutions of the field in Finland, Europe and North America.
The center focuses on the multidisciplinary research of the United States, Canada and Mexico, and their global position and international interactive processes.
>> The web pages of the John Morton Center
Text: Maria Ojanen
Translation: Aura Jaakkola