Research at the Department of Folkloristics
The main research interests of the Department Folkloristics include contemporary culture, popular culture, belief traditions, oral history, memory studies, narrative studies and cultural heritage research.
Areas of research at include for example:
- Intergenerational and transnational family memories and memory cultures
- Spontaneous archives and digital heritage
- Uses of folklore
- Popular and vernacular belief traditions
- Past and present patterns of everyday thought and action
- Folklore and popular culture
- Urban and vernacular culture
Research projects
NORDIC VOICES seeks to increase the use of oral histories, life narratives and personal memories in Nordic cultural institutions by organising a several international workshops and collaborating with leading experts from both academia and various cultural institutions.
Website tba.
Further information:
Professor of Folkloristics Anne Heimo, anheimo@utu.fi / +358 (0)50 328 7968 (P.I.)
Professor of Ethnology Helena Ruotsala, helruo@utu.fi
Dr., university teacher in Museum Studies Maija Mäki, maikar@utu.fi
The multidisciplinary project focuses on the experiences and memories of patients and members of staff of the former tuberculosis sanatorium in Paimio, Southwest Finland. The sanatorium designed by the Finnish architects Alvar and Aino Aalto, was opened in 1933, and was immediately acknowledged all over the world for its’ architecture. The sanatorium served as a tuberculosis sanatorium until the early 1960s and after this as a general hospital until the mid-2010s. Currently, the sanatorium is being transformed into a cultural centre by the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation and there are plans to nominate it among twelve other buildings designed by Alvar Aalto as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
https://blogit.utu.fi/paimionparantolatutkimushanke/in-english/
Further information:
Professor of Folkloristics Anne Heimo, anheimo@utu.fi / +358 (0)50 328 7968
Professor of Ethnology Helena Ruotsala, helruo@utu.fi
Dr., university teacher in Museum Studies Maija Mäki, maikar@utu.fi
Dr., university teacher in Folkloristics Tuomas Hovi, tuohov@utu.fi, folkloristiikka