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Areas of expertise
Biography
Professor of History and Social Studies Education, University of Turku, 2022–
Visiting Professor of History Education, Linnaeus University, Sweden, 2020–2022
Associate Professor of History and Social Studies Education, University of Turku, 2019–2022
University Lecturer of History and Social Studies Education, University of Helsinki, 1999–2019
Docent (Social Studies and History Education), University of Turku, 2014
Docent (Historical Anthropology), University of Jyväskylä, 2000
PhD (Sociology), University of Essex, 1994
For further information and publications 1999–2019, see: ORCID 0000-0003-0995-3265
Research
My research interests include intersections of historical consciousness and moral consciousness that was explored in the research project History in Moral Encounters, directed by Professor Niklas Ammert. In the project collaborated Niklas Ammert, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström and Heather Sharp, and it was funded by the Swedish Research Council (2018–2021). The premises of the project were presented in the Special Issue, "Historical and Moral Consciousness," in Historical Encounters, 4(2017):1, eds. Ammert, Edling, Löfström & Sharp. The results of the project have been published in a number of peer reviewed articles (see my list of publications) and in the books, Niklas Ammert, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström & Heather Sharp, Historical and moral consciousness in education: learning ethics for democratic citizenship education. London: Routledge. 2022; and, Niklas Ammert, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström & Heather Sharp, Att lära från, om och med historia. Historiemedvetande, moral och didaktik. Malmö: Gleerups. 2023.
The aforementioned topic connects closely with my earlier research on the politics of historical apologies and on conceptions of historical responsibility as a perspective on historical consciousness. These topics have been discussed in articles in the Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(2014):4, and Citizenship Studies, 15(2011):1, and in the edited volume, Voiko historiaa hyvittää? (Can history be repaired?), ed. J. Löfström (Helsinki: Gaudeamus University Press, 2012).
The research project on intersections of historical consciousness and moral consciousness has resulted in an international network on Democracy in the past, the present, and looking to the future: a network on historical, moral, and democratic consciousness in history education, research and policy; the network is funded by the Swedish Research Council (2023–2025), and the steering group includes Niklas Ammert (chair), Fredrik Alvén, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström and Heather Sharp.
Currently I am involved in an exploratory workshop serie on Educating active and democratic citizens in challenging times: exploring the past, present and future of social studies in the Nordic countries. The workshop serie is funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (2022–2023) and is expected to result in a Nordic research project. The steering group includes Jakob Maliks (chair), Tom Gullberg, Brit Marie Hoveland, Jan Löfström ja David Rosenlund.
Currently I'm engaged in editing a volume on economic education and democracy education, with Dr. Marko van den Berg.
I'm active as co-editor in the Journal of Social Science Education, and in the editorial board of the journal Nordidactica: Nordic Journal in Humanities and Social Studies Education.