Past events – 2025
FEBRUARY
Book launch: Lähestymistapoja kirjallisuuteen (Approaches to Literature, ed. Hanna Meretoja, Aino Mäkikalli, Anna Helle, Kaisa Ilmonen & Markku Lehtimäki, SKS), in Finnish
28 February, 14-15
Arcanum A347 (coffee room)
Tilaisuudessa teoksesta esittävät puheenvuorot kotimaisen kirjallisuuden opiskelija Matilda Kirvelä, yleisen kirjallisuustieteen väitöskirjatutkija Oiva Ristimäki sekä teoksen toimittajat ja kirjoittajat.
MARCH
Seminar for Doctoral researchers: Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory
25 March, 13-15
Arcanum A259
SELMA Centre hosts a seminar for doctoral researchers related to the centre’s main topics of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory. We would like to give this platform for younger scholars to present their work, network with each other, and share experiences and tips about getting started in academia. The event is bilingual: on paper is in Finnish, three in English. The topics include afroamerican literature, Korean cultural narratives, landscape studies, and oral testimonies.
APRIL
Käsitetyöpaja: Mikä on ‘race’ suomeksi?
15 April, 12.30-16
Arcanum A229 (Loisto)
Tervetuloa SELMA-tutkimuskeskuksen sekä INTERACT- ja MadEnCounters -tutkimushankkeiden yhteiseen käsitetyöpajaan, jossa keskustellaan suomeksi kirjoittavia tutkijoita, kirjailijoita, kääntäjiä ja muita kielen kanssa toimivia ammattilaisia askarruttavista, ns. rotua, etnisyyttä ja kulttuurin moninaisuutta koskevista käsitteellisistä valinnoista. Mikä on suomeksi race, entä mixed-race, racialized/racialization – ja mitä merkitsee hiljaisuus näiden sanojen ympärillä?
Puhujina tutkijatohtori Maïmouna Matikainen-Soreau, suomentaja Anna Tuomikoski, yliopistonlehtori, dosentti Kaisa Ilmonen, tutkijatohtori Kaiju Harinen, kirjailija Fiona ‘Elone sekä POC-lukupiirin Téri Zambrano.
**
Visual arts, narrative and social class
24-25 April
University of Turku / Life on a Leaf house
Art and society are deeply entangled, and visual arts offer a crucial window into historical, social and economic conditions. But art does not only reflect the existing world; art is a catalyst for change, propelling transformation and provoking unrest and dispute. Art allows us to understand, imagine, engage with, participate in and potentially transform the world through lasting historical-political and socio-economic change.
This conference is interested in the role of social class in the production, circulation and stories of the visual arts. Social class is difficult to define, and individuals live their social class through everyday experiences, opportunities and limitations. The invisible structures and processes that define and shape the experiences of social class are felt, rather than seen. Visual art is thus an exciting angle from which to explore the phenomenology of social class, translating invisible hierarchies and experiences into visual, physical and material forms.
MAY
SELMA GUEST LECTURE SERIES
27 May
Arcanum ARC
Guide through Life: Social Normativity in 19th Century Hungarian Female Conduct Books
by Dr. Judit Kerpics, Assistant Professor, University of Szeged (HU), Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Department of Cultural Studies
&
Between Silence and Speech: Cultural Metaphors of Anxiety in Indian Narratives
by Dr. Arya Priyadarshini, Assistant Professor of English at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India
**
10 YEARS OF SELMA – CELEBRATORY SEMINAR
26 May
Sibelius Museum
SELMA, Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory was launched in June 2015. We invite everyone with an interest in the Centre’s themes, especially those who have worked with the Centre – or hope to do so in the future – to celebrate its first 10 years in a seminar on 26 May 2025. The programme includes keynote lectures, roundtable on the significance of narratives, and live music. Welcome!
JUNE
Summer school and Conference: Religion, Concealed and Revealed
9-12 June
Arcanum
The aim of the summer school and conference is to bring together doctoral candidates and researchers from various academic fields that engage with the study of religion, such as theology, religious studies, study of esotericism, history, philosophy, the arts, social and political sciences and other.
**
Conference: NEFK2025 – “Nordic 2.0 and beyond”
11-14 June
Åbo Akademi University and Turku University
It is time to meet again at the Nordic Ethnology and Folklore Conference. The 36th edition of the conference aims to reconnect with the roots of NEFK. We therefore invite all Nordic scholars, and scholars of the Nordic, to Turku/Åbo in Finland to expand our horizons once more. The theme of the conference is ”Nordic 2.0 and beyond.”
The Nordic region is frequently viewed as a model welfare society. However, what is meant by referring to the Nordic, both historically and presently? Is it a geographic region, an imagined community, a way of life, or a theoretical framework? Finally, what could Nordic 2.0 and beyond be and become? Let us explore these and other questions together!
SEPTEMBER
ABOAGORA: Venus
10.-12.9.2025
Sibelius Museum & other venues
ABOAGORA is an annual symposium that brings together the arts, humanities and sciences. The event consists of public keynote lectures and dialogues, as well as various performative sessions that combine artistic and scholarly approaches.
In 2025, Aboagora will focus in Venus, the Bringer of Peace. As a continuation of the previous year’s war theme, Mars, the main event at Sibelius Museum on 10th–12th September deals with peace, détente, conflict resolution, peaceful coexistence between peoples and different species, as well as inner peace and well-being. In addition to peace, Venus has been linked to beauty, love, and fertility, to name a few associations, as well as the carnivorous plant Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)! ABOAGORA program will consist of interdisciplinary dialogues, keynotes, presentations, and panels, artistic performances and sessions, as well as workshops, all presenting different scientific and artistic perspectives on peace.
**
Cultural Memory and Social Change TeamUp Event
29 September at 13:00–16:00
University of Turku main building, lobby, 1st floor
The multidisciplinary theme Cultural Memory and Social Change organizes a TeamUp event to gather people with common research interests. You will have an excellent opportunity to network over coffee and refreshments and to hear interesting presentations related to the multidisciplinary theme. The aim of the event is to promote and enable multidisciplinary encounters and project ideas. The event is in English. Everyone interested is welcome to join!
OCTOBER
2nd Second European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference
2.-4.10.2025
University of Jyväskylä
Welcome to the 2nd European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference!
We are excited to announce that the 2nd European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference will take place in October at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The programme will include interesting presentations and practical workshops on various topics in the field of biblio/poetry therapy. In the course of three days, the event will bring together researchers, experts, and biblio/poetry therapy professionals, practitioners and enthusiasts to discuss and share insights on the latest developments in the field.
**
Symposium: The Return of Moral Didacticism? Authority, Ethos, and Instruction
16.-18.2025
Calonia & Arcanum
This symposium aims to explore how changing attitudes toward authority and authorship influence didactic aims and elements in narrative. Today, a work of literature – its ethics of representation and tone of voice – is strongly likened to its author in reception and marketing. This development in the contemporary literary field exposes the author to moral and political debate within the public sphere, taking the form of ethos negotiation. What consequences does this have for literary didacticism? How do authors construct didactic and moral authority in their rhetoric? As contemporary ethical concerns are often tied with questions of identity, representation, and story ownership, the contemporary perception of moral didacticism is connected to the increased relevance afforded to authorial ethos in the literary field.
Te symposium is co-organized by the AUTOSTORY consortium and the research centre SELMA. The keynote speaker is Professor James Phelan (Ohio State University, USA).
NOVEMBER
Käsitetyöpaja: Mikä on “crip” suomeksi?
3.11.2025
Educarium
Tervetuloa SELMA- tutkimuskeskuksen sekä INTERACT- ja MadEnCounters-tutkimushankkeiden yhteiseen käsitetyöpajaan, jossa keskustellaan suomeksi kirjoittavia tutkijoita, kirjailijoita, kääntäjiä ja muita kielen kanssa toimivia ammattilaisia askarruttavista, vammaisuutta, neuromoninaisuutta ja toimintakykyä koskevista käsitteellisistä valinnoista. Mikä on suomeksi crip, entä able-bodied – ja mitä jos mokaamme vaikka tarkoitamme hyvää? Kieli elää ja muuttuu jatkuvasti, mutta on tärkeää pysähtyä sen äärelle ja pohtia, millaista todellisuutta sanat ylläpitävät ja luovat. Tilaisuus on tarkoitettu tutkijoille, opiskelijoille, taiteilijoille, aktivisteille ja kaikille muille aiheesta kiinnostuneille.
**
Symposium: Fasismin lumo suomalaisessa kulttuurissa
27.11.2025
Tauno Nurmela -sali, Turun yliopiston päärakennus
Tämän monitieteisen tiedettä ja taidetta yhdistävän projektin tarkoituksena on ollut keskittyä suomalaisen fasismin toisen maailmansodan jälkeiseen kulttuuriseen perintöön ja erityisesti sen affektiivisuuteen. Fasistisen materiaalin kierrätys on synnyttänyt tunneilmaston, jossa isänmaallisuuden, patriotismin, fasismin ja kansallisuusaatteen eri ilmenemismuodot sekoittuvat keskenään.
Seminaarissa kuullaan puheenvuoroja hankkeen tutkijoilta, koetaan hankkeen osana toimivan teatteriryhmän esitys sekä kuullaan puheenvuoro natsismia ja populaarimusiikkia tarkastelevalta englantilaiselta tietokirjailijalta.
Tilaisuuden kieli on Daniel Rachelin englanninkielistä esitelmää lukuun ottamatta suomi.
DECEMBER
Flash Seminar with the Centre for Culture and Health
10.12.2025, 13.00-14.00
Arcanum A270
On Wednesday 10 December, 13:00-14:00, the Centre for Culture and Health (Kulttuurin ja terveyden tutkimusyksikkö) and SELMA will host a short flash seminar event to share their research interests in all things health, illness, death, arts and culture.
Doctoral, postdoctoral and senior researchers of the University of Turku are invited to send expressions of interest to Avril Tynan (aatyna@utu.fi) by Thursday 4 December. The seminar will provide a friendly and relaxed environment to share a few words about your current research interests. Official presentations and PowerPoint slides are not required.
**
RESCHEDULED FOR EARLY 2026
Guest lecture: Ulrika Maude
More info TBA