Seminars

Human Diversity arranges interdisciplinary seminar series to present the wide variety of research in the field.  You are welcome to join seminars at the University of Turku campus or on zoom.

Human Diversity seminars highlight interdisciplinary research associated with the consortium. The seminar series is designed to complement visiting seminars and other teaching activities within the departments. Seminars typically consist of either a single visiting talk (60 minutes, including a 45-minute presentation and a 15-minute Q&A session) or two talks. In the latter format, a consortium member provides an introduction to Human Diversity research relevant to the topic (20+10 min), followed by a visiting speaker (45+15min).

Participation in these seminars allows students to earn credits for HUDI001. Further details can be found on Peppi.

Human Diversity seminars spring 2024:

Wednesday 27.3. from 10:00-12:00 by
MSc Sanni Peltola
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki
“Ancient genes of North-Eastern Europe: ancient DNA data and its practicalities”
AND
Ph.D Ville Pimenoff
Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu & Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
“Modern and ancient exposure and evolution of pathogens affecting human health”
Location: Natura, lecture hall XI or https://utu.zoom.us/j/61515345616

Wednesday 10.4. from 10:00-12:00 by
Dr. Sean Roberts

School of English, Communication and Philosophy, University of Cardiff, UK.
“Hypothesis driven cultural evolution, incl. existense of monsters”
AND
PhD Terhi Honkola
Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, University of Helsinki
Landscape affordances driving population (linguistic) devergence”
Location: Natura, lecture hall XI or https://utu.zoom.us/j/61515345616

Wednesday 24.4. from 10:00-12:00 by
Ph.D Miina Norvik
Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Estonia
Title TBA
AND
Ph.D Ilmari Ivaska
Finnish, Finno-Ugric and Scandinavian languages, University of Turku
“Identifying individual Finnish speakers’ dialectal background using supervised machine learning”
Location: Natura, lecture hall XI or https://utu.zoom.us/j/61515345616

Wednesday 15.5. from 10:00-12:00 by
Professor Juha Kere
Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
“Genes, environment and chance”
AND
Ph.D Elina Salmela
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki
Title TBA
Location: Natura, lecture hall XI or https://utu.zoom.us/j/61515345616

Past seminars

Friday 21.4.
Outi Vesakoski: Human Diversity
Discovering how human encounters cascade into genetic and cultural legacies
Abstract: HuDi is about discovering how human encounters cascade into genetic and cultural legacies. How could we use linguistic research in this?

David Inman (University of Zürich, Department of Comparative Language Science, Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution)
Linguistic traces of population contact
Abstract: Language contact between population groups leaves behind evidence in the lexicons and grammars of the languages involved. This linguistic information is then carried by the languages and their descendent languages, leaving a trace of historical cultural and linguistic connections that persists after the initiating contact event. In a sufficiently dense and multilingual communication network, multiple languages will develop a pervasive and locally-specific linguistic profile. The large number of new grammars and digital resources published in the last 20 years have made it easier to find historical evidence of this sort present in modern languages. I will talk about how these contact events occur, their relationship to other aspects of human culture, and their impact on language development. I will show how this kind of data can be collected and different ways to analyze it, using the ongoing development of the Areal Typology of the Languages of the Americas (ATLAs) database at the University of Zurich and the sBayes algorithm (Ranacher et al 2021).

Thursday 15.6.
The Russian Constructicon: Main Principles and Applications
Zoia Butenko, University of Oslo
Abstract: Building of The Russian construction from language technology perspective

Daria Demidova, University of Turku/ UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Abstract: Use of The Russian construction in language teaching

Tuesday 4.7.
The diversity of the Uralic languages in the light of new typological data (Uralic Typological Data Online)
Outi Vesakoski, Human Diversity consortium

“Disentangling Ancestral State Reconstruction in Historical Linguistics – comparing classic approaches and new methods with Oceanic grammar”
Hedvig Skirgård, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Plànck lnstitute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Abstract:Ancestral State Reconstruction (ASR) is an essential part of historical linguistics (HL). Conventional ASR in HL relies on three core principles: fewest changes on the tree, plausibility of changes and plausibility of the resulting combinations of features in proto-languages. This approach has some problems, in particular the definition of what is plausible and the disregard of branch lengths. This study compares the classic approach of ASR to computational tools (Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood), conceptually and practically. Computational models have the advantage of being more transparent, consistent and replicable, and the disadvantage of lacking nuanced knowledge and context. Using data from the structural database Grambank, I compare reconstructions of the grammar of ancestral Oceanic languages from the historical linguistics literature to those achieved by computational means. The results show that there is a high degree of agreement between manual and computational approaches, with a tendency for classical HL to agree more with the approaches that ignore branch lengths. Taking into account branch lengths explicitly is more conceptually sound, as such the field of historical linguistics should engage in improving methods in this direction. A combination of computational methods and qualitative knowledge is possible in future and would be of great benefit.

Wednesday 9.8.
“Linguistic dating”
Michael Dunn, Professor of General Linguistics, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
Abstract:
The language diversity documented in the present way is the product of historical processes. Linguistic historical methods allow us to reconstruct these processes of change and infer aspects of genealogical relationships and chronology. This talk will give an introduction to two of the main methods for this currently used in linguistics: the linguistic Comparative Method, and Bayesian phylochronology.

“Computational Linguistic Dating and the Uralic Family”
Tiago Tresoldi, Post-Doc Researcher, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
Abstract:
This presentation will explore computational linguistic dating methodologies, focusing on the Uralic language family. The introduction will shed light on distance-based approaches, such as glottochronology, the first method to statistically estimate linguistic divergence, and character-based methods, including modern Bayesian analyses. This exploration aims to elucidate the roles and applications of these techniques within the domain of “computational historical linguistic dating.” The core of the presentation will center on applying these methods to date not only the root of the Uralic family but also its branches. This seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the historical development and timeline of the family. Within this context, the presentation will detail different models used in the Bayesian approach, such as tree models, speciation models, and molecular clocks, illustrating their significance in the chronological study of the Uralic family and its subdivisions. Additionally, interdisciplinary perspectives from genetics and archaeology will be addressed as complementary tools that can work alongside linguistic dating. This synthesis underscores how these diverse fields can merge to refine and enhance the precision of dating methodologies, presenting a multifaceted perspective. The presentation will conclude with a succinct exploration of emerging trends in computational historical linguistic dating, such as the potential investigation of non-lexical data, including phonological, morphological, and grammatical data. These innovative directions mark the ongoing evolution of the field, signifying prospects for continued research and application.

Wednesday 6.9.
“Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluve”
MSc Sanni Peltola, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki

“Inferring language contact through rule-based computational borrowing detection”
MA Viktor Martinović, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Wednesday 8.11.
“The Expensive Germline and the Disposable Soma: exploring the co-evolution of life history and deleterious mutation rate”
PhD Piret Avila, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), University of Toulouse
Abstract: The cost of germline maintenance and repair gives rise to a trade-off between immutability (lowering deleterious mutation rates) and life-history functions. Life-histories and the mutation rate therefore co-evolve, but this joint evolutionary process is not well understood. I present a mathematical model to analyse the long-term evolution of traits affecting life-histories and deleterious mutation rate. I show that evolutionary stable life-histories and mutation rates can be  characterised using the basic reproductive number of the least-loaded class (expected lifetime production of  offspring without deleterious mutations born to individuals with the smallest number of deleterious mutations). We further analyse two specific biological scenarios: (i) co-evolution between reproductive effort and mutation rate and (ii) co-evolution between age at maturity and mutation rate. These two scenarios suggest two results. First, the trade-off between immutability vs life-history functions depends strongly on environmental conditions and baseline mutation rate. For example, low external mortality and high radiation environment favour high investment into immutability. Second, the trade-offs between different life-history factors can be strongly affected by mutation rate co-evolution and higher baseline mutation rates  select for “faster life histories”: (i) higher investment into fecundity at the expense of survival and (ii) earlier age of maturation at smaller sizes. I will also discuss the implications of this model on understanding evolution of ageing and I will give an overview of my future research agenda concerning the evolution of ageing.

Wednesday 13.12.
“Introducing archaeogenetics in Human Diversity”
Prof Päivi Onkamo, Human Diversity consortium, University of Turku

“Resolving ancient epidemics with archaeogenetics”
PhD Kerttu Majander, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM), University of Zurich

Wednesday 31.1.
Family proximity and relocations in older adulthood
PhD Alyona Artamonova, Väestöliitto – Population Research Institute and University of Groningen – Population Research Centre
The family remains one of the biggest sources of support for older adults. Geographic proximity between family members has important implications for the growing demand for formal and informal care. As people age, their own and their family members’ residential (im)mobility may be a strategy to facilitate the exchange of care. I will talk about my research that addresses the following question: How are needs-related life circumstances of older people associated with their own and their relatives’ migration and immobility (including older adults’ moves into institutionalized care facilities)? I will focus on the roles of a range of needs-related life circumstances of older adults in their own and their family members’ locational choices: needs for formal care, severe health problems, the absence of core family members, or losing a partner recently. Drawing on the full population register data from Norway and Sweden, I show that older adults’ needs-related life circumstances deter intergenerational geographic divergence, and inspire moves toward adult children, siblings, and into institutionalized residential care. The results of my research also emphasize the importance of non-resident family members in migration and immobility both as a deterrent to moving into institutionalized care and elsewhere when family members already live nearby and as an attraction to migrate toward clusters of relatives. The findings broadly suggest that even in Norway and Sweden where formal care services are available, the welfare state is far from “crowding out” the family from the sphere of care and the family plays an important role in the locational choices of older adults.

Wednesday 14.2.
“Historical document OCR with Transkribus: background + hands-on“
MSc Ari Vesalainen, Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki

Wednesday 28.2. from 12:00-14:00 by Ph.D Kalle Parvinen
Department of Mathematics and Statisctis, University of Turku
“Mathematical population migration modelling”

Wednesday 13.3. from 10:00-12:00 by Ph.D Ulla Moilanen
Department of Archaeology, University of Turku
“Proteomics in archaeology”