Upcoming Events
SPRING SEMESTER 2026
Find our past events here.
JANUARY
1800-luvun verkoston 15. vuosikonferenssi
29 – 30 January
Arcanum (University of Turku) & Arken (Åbo Akademi)
In Finnish & Swedish
Tiedon ja tarinoiden vuosisata / Ett sekel av kunskap och berättelser
1800-luvun tutkimuksen päivät järjestetään Turussa 29.-30.1.2026. Konferenssin aiheena on tiedon ja tarinoiden vuosisata.
Konferenssin järjestäjätahoina toimivat Turun yliopiston Historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitoksen historian oppiaineet, Åbo Akademin historia-aineet sekä SELMA-tutkimuskeskus.
FEBRUARY
SELMA Casual Flash Seminar and Mingle for Doctoral Researchers and Postdocs
11 February, 12.00-14.00
Arcanum A229 (Loisto)
In English & Finnish
SELMA Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory invites doctoral researchers and postdocs to gather together to mingle and talk about their research in a casual setting. All research in humanities, especially related to SELMA’s topics, is welcome. This is an opportunity to meet other early-career researchers and discover new connections within the university. The seminar is bilingual, so you can present both in English or Finnish.
If you wish to participate, submit a short description of your research topic to Sanni Lindroos (samalin@utu.fi) or Ringa Takanen (rimata@utu.fi) by the 5th of February 2026. We ask you to prepare a brief, approximately 5-10 minute presentation of your topic – no PowerPoints necessary, but you can show slides or a poster if you wish. We will leave a lot of time for discussions and mingle.
Refreshments will be served after the presentations.
MARCH
Film screening and reading circle: Incest & Literature
Film screening
3 March, 18-12.30
Turku University, Arcanum, Aava
&
Reading circle
17 March, 16.30-18.30
Åbo Akademin, Arken, Voltaire (M127)
SELMA and the subject of French Language and Literature at Åbo Akademi are inviting you to two events on on the topics of incest and literature.
Join us for a film screening and premiere in Finland of Christine Angot’s (2024) film “A familly” (in French with English subtitles) on Tuesday 3rd March, 18:00-20:30. The screening will take place in the Aava Lecture Hall, Arcanum building, at the University of Turku and will be followed by a 30-mins discussions for those who wish to take part.
Synopsis: Award-winning French writer Christine Angot goes on a business trip to Strasbourg where her father lived before dying several years ago. It is the city where she met him for the first time at the age of 13, and where he sexually abused her over the following years. His wife and children still live there. Angot takes a camera and knocks on the doors of her family to push them to clarify their attitudes to her father’s crime that stretched over so many years. A cinematographic journey that challenges social norms and family perspectives in dealing with incest.
You wan watch the trailer here.
Then, this will be followed by a reading circle on Tuesday 17th March, 16:30-18:30 taking place in Voltaire (M127), Arken building at Åbo Akademi University. Attendees can choose which book they wish to read for this event based on the books suggested here and in the language of their choice. It is possible that a few attendees will have read 2024 Goncourt Prize of Finland’s winner Neige Sinno’s Sad Tiger (Triste tigre in French, Tiikerin raatelu in Finnish and Tvingad tiger in Swedish). To register for this event, fill in this form.
Both events are public, free and open to all. They are independent from each other and participants are free to attend only one of them or both the reading circle and film screening.
For more information about these events and the topics at hand, please read the information sheet.
***
Book launch and panel discussion: Empiirinen kirjallisuuden ja lukemisen tutkimus – Menetelmiä ja käytäntöjä
23 March, 14-17
Arcanum A113
In Finnish
Ensimmäinen suomenkielinen opas kirjallisuuden ja lukemisen empiirisiin tutkimusmenetelmiin kokoaa yhteen Suomessa viime vuosina eri tieteenaloilla tehtyä tutkimusta. Kirjoittajat luovat monipuolisen katsauksen eri alojen tutkimuskysymyksiin, aineistonkeruun ja analyysin menetelmiin sekä empiirisen tutkimuksen uudenlaisiin avauksiin. Samalla pohditaan, millaisiin menetelmällisiin suuntiin tutkimus voisi kulkea tulevaisuudessa.
Kokoomateoksen tutkimusesimerkeissä kirjallisuutta ja lukemista lähestytään niin lukijoita haastattelemalla, silmänliikkeitä analysoimalla kuin arkistoja penkomalla ja lukuaikapalvelujen algoritmeja tulkitsemalla. Teos tarjoaa inspiraatiota, virikkeitä ja käsitteellisiä työkaluja tutkijoille, opiskelijoille, opettajille sekä lukemisen ja kirjoittamisen parissa työskenteleville.
Paneelikeskusteluun osallistuu teoksen toimittajia ja kirjoittajia.
Julkaisutilaisuuden järjestävät yhteistyössä SELMA ja Kulttuurin ja terveyden tutkimusyksikkö.
**
Symposium: Time, memory, and representation
27 Marchm 9.00-16.30
Arcanum Arc270
In English
How is time represented in works that purport to, or are generally assumed to, capture real events? How do diverse conceptualizations of memory (from St. Augustine to Walter Benjamin, from Sigmund Freud to recent developments in cognitive science) shape and/or shed light on the representation of time and memory? How does fiction represent traumatic memories or illness? In this symposium organised by former SELMA visiting scholar, Dr. Sara Villamarin-Freire, literary scholars from different universities explore topic related to these and even broader questions. Full programme coming soon.
APRIL
Book launch: Memory Studies in the Nordic Countries: A Handbook
22 April, 16-18
Arcanum
This peer-reviewed international handbook focuses on memory studies in the Nordic countries. It is a multi-disciplinary and transnational work that explores and maps characteristics and applications of the fast-growing field of memory studies in the Nordic region and in relation to the global context.
With contributions focusing on theoretical and disciplinary reflections, illustrative thematic overviews, as well as elaborations of concepts and approaches in the Nordic setting, the handbook serves as a multi-disciplinary reference guide for researchers and students interested in memory studies. Existing and emerging debates have been carefully mapped, as well as disciplinary trajectories of the field, thematic, pragmatic, aesthetic, and ideological features of Nordic memory cultures.
This comprehensive handbook of memory studies in the Nordic countries provides a stepping stone for future developments in the field.
The event will include short talks by:
Editor, docent Ulla Savolainen (University of Helsinki)
Chapter author Anu Koivunen (University of Turku)
Chapter author Riikka Taavetti (University of Turku)
Chapter author Riitta Jytilä (University of Turku)
Chapter author Anne Heimo (University of Turku)
MAY
Käsitetyöpaja: Mikä on ”mad” suomeksi?
4 May, 12.30-16
Helsinki (specific location TBA) & Zoom
In Finnish
SELMAn käsitetyöpajasarja jatkuu – käsitteiden “race” ja “crip” jälkeen aiheena on “mad/madness”. Lisätietoa tulossa pian.
**
Guest lecture
27 May, 16-18
by SELMA visiting scholar Claudia Alea Parrondo, Complutense University, Madrid
JUNE
Symposium on Illness Narratives
10 June, 10-17
Arcanum, Aava
Keynotes include Arthur Frank ja Danielle Spencer. More info TBA.