Leila Koivunen
Professori, Euroopan ja maailman historia / Professor, European and World History
leikoi@utu.fi +358 29 450 3449 +358 50 328 9844 Arcanuminkuja 1 Turku Office: 114 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5869-2949 |
cultural interaction; 19th-20th centuries; Europe and Africa; European images of Africa; Africans in Finland; history of mobility, exploration; history of colonialism; Finland and colonialism; Finnish-Namibian relations; history of knowledge and science; book history; illustration history; material culture; history of museums; exhibition medium
PI in project Decolonizing History-Writing: Transcultural Production, Mobilization and Transformations of Knowledge in Finnish-Namibian Relations 1870–1990 (Kone 2024-2027), sites.utu.fi/finnam
I work as a professor of European and World History with a special emphasis in global history and history of cultural interaction. I defended my doctoral thesis in 2006 and was awarded the title of docent in 2007. I have previously worked as an assistant, senior assistant, university lecturer and postdoctoral researcher (Academy of Finland).
In my research, I have focused especially on the history of cultural encounters and interaction in the 19th and 20th centuries and the processes whereby Europeans have come to know and represent the non-Western world, especially Africa. My doctoral dissertation (2006) traced the roots of stereotyped European imagery of Africa by focusing on the illustration processes in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
I have also conducted research on the history of collecting and displaying “exotic” material cultures in the Finnish context. I’m interested in how Finnish people travelled to Africa and vice versa. Currently, I’m writing a monograph on the history of Africans in Finland with Anna Rastas.
I am also interested in the history of Finnish involvement in colonial activities during the period of Russian rule. I was one of the editors of Finnish Colonial Encounters: From Anti-Imperialism to Cultural Colonialism and Complicity (Palgrave Macmillan 2021) and Colonial Aspects of Finnish-Namibian Relations, 1870–1990. Cultural Change, Endurance and Resistance (Finnish Literature Society 2024). I organise a seminar on the history of colonialism.
I am the principal investigator of a Finnish-Namibian research project FinNamKnow, funded by the Kone Foundation (2024-2027). We examine the collective processes of knowledge formation generated by the Finnish presence in Owambo in present-day northern Namibia (1870-1990).
Typical teaching year: Master’s seminar, supervision of MA and doctoral theses, lecture course on a changing topic of my expertise and participation in jointly taught courses.
- Vieraan kulttuurin vaatteissa (2011)
- Historia (Forssa)
(E1 Popularised article) - Afrikka ja Kiina Suomen kiertueella. Eksoottisia esineitä lähetysnäyttelyssä (2010) Samanaikaisuuksia. Kansainvälisiä näköaloja vuoden 1911 maailmaan Koivunen, L.
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Johdanto: samanaikaisuuksia (2010) Samanaikaisuuksia. Kansainvälisiä näköaloja vuoden 1911 maailmaan Syrjämaa, T.; Koivunen, L.
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - ”Kiinalais-Afrikalainen” lähetysnäyttely historioitsijan haasteena (2010)
- Historiallinen Arkisto
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Samanaikaisuuksia. Kansainvälisiä näköaloja vuoden 1911 maailmaan (2010) Koivunen L, Syrjämaa T (toim. )
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Vieraan kulttuurin vaatteissa. Kiinalais-Afrikalainen lähetysnäyttely (1911-1912) ja vaatetuksen vaihtuvat merkitykset (2010)
- Historiallinen Arkisto
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Exemplary Foreignness. Foreign Material Cultures in the Service of Finnish Taste and Industry in the 1870s (2009) Nordic Perspectives on Encountering Foreignness Koivunen Leila
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Introduction (2009) Nordic Perspectives on Encountering Foreignness Koivunen Leila, Folke Henningsen Anne, Syrjämaa Taina
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Visualizing Africa in Nineteenth-Century British Travel Accounts (2009) Koivunen Leila
(C1 Refereed scientific book) - Papyruksesta pdf:ään. Tutkielmia kirjan historiasta (2008) Koivunen Leila, Tunturi Janne
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Vaeltelevat kuvat. Kuvien jäljentämisen traditio puupiirrosten ja -kaiverrusten aikakausilla (2008) Papyruksesta pdf:ään. Tutkielmia kirjan historiasta Koivunen Leila
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Encountering Foreign Worlds. Experiences at Home and Abroad (2007) Koivunen Leila, Ax Christina Folke, Henningsen Anne Folke, Jensen Niklas Thode, Syrjämaa Taina
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Kotona (2006) Turistin tilat. Tilallisuus modernin matkustajan kokemuksena Koivunen Leila
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Matkailija kuvien oravanpyörässä (2006)
- Muuttuva matkailu
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Nähtävyyksiin tutustumassa (2006) Turistin tilat. Tilallisuus modernin matkustajan kokemuksena Koivunen Leila
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Turistin tilat. Tilallisuus modernin matkustajan kokemuksena (2006) Koivunen Leila, Söderholm Ilse-Mari, Syrjämaa Taina
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Uusia elämyksiä ja arkisia tottumuksia. Liikenne kulttuurin muokkaajana (2006)
- Liikenne
(E1 Popularised article) - Visualising the ”Dark Continent”. The Process of Illustrating Nineteenth-Century British Travel Accounts of Africa (2006) Koivunen Leila
(G4 Monograph dissertation) - Matkailijan ihmeellinen maailma. Matkailun historia vanhalta ajalta nykypäivään (2004) Koivunen Leila, Kostiainen Auvo, Ahtola Janne, Korpela Katariina, Syrjämaa Taina
(C1 Refereed scientific book) - Visualizing the Unknown. Exploration and Shaping of the Imagery of Africa in the Illustrations of Travel Literature (1850's–1880's) (2003)
- Muuttuva matkailu
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal)