Otto Latva
PhD, Adjunct Professor
onilat@utu.fi +358 29 450 3450 +358 50 328 9846 Arcanuminkuja 1 Turku Office: A213 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3265-3076 |
History; Biodiversity; Human-Animal Studies; Human-Plant Studies; Sea; Ocean; Baltic Sea; 20th Century; 19th Century; 18th Century; 16th Century; Environmental History; Cultural History; Posthumanism; More-than-human history; Oral History; History of Science; History of Zoology; History of Knowledge; Maritime History; Biodiversity loss; Climate Change; Digital Humanities; Big Data; Giant Squid; Mollusks; Insects; Sea monsters; History of Animal Farming; Maritime Literature; Seafarers; History of Whaling;
Leading projects such as HumBio (Academy of Finland) and FaFFe (Kordelin). Director of the Wave Riders – Center for Environmental Humanities. Researcher in BIODIFORM consortium.
I am a historian focusing on human-animal and human-plant studies as well as environmental history. I have the title of docent in the field of more-than-human history. I have studied widely the early modern as well as the nineteenth-century and twentieth-century societies and cultures. In my previous studies, I have investigated the shared history of humans and animals, the long-term understanding of the marine environment, and the history of seafaring culture. I am also interested in many other matters concerning the relationship between humans and non-human nature. In addition to this, I am interested in the methods of digital humanities.
I lead a research project Disappeared, Endangered and Newly Arrived Species: The Human Relationship with the Changing Biodiversity of the Baltic Sea (HumBio). The webpage of the project is https://sites.utu.fi/humbio/en/. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland 2021-2025.
I also lead the Memories of Porpoises: The shared past of humans and porpoises in the Finnish sea area project. The project is funded by the Weisell Foundation 2022-2023 and the webpage of the project is https://sites.utu.fi/pyoriaismuistot/en/
In addition to these, I lead Fauna and Flora Fennica (FaFFe) project, funded by the Alred Kordelin Foundation's Major Cultural Projects programme 2023-2025 . The webpage of the project is https://sites.utu.fi/faffe/en/
From 2022 to 2024, I will be a University Lecturer in Cultural Heritage Studies. I will be responsible for the Graduate Seminar on the subject and will also teach several courses. I am also responsible for teaching and coordinating museology on the Pori campus.
Altogether, I have taught several lectures from the perspective of more-than-human history, mainly on Human-Animal Studies. I have also organized several popular courses mainly with the above-mentioned theme. For instance, I organized and coordinated a lecture course with multiple lecturers on Animal and Plant Studies within Humanities with my colleague Heta Lähdesmäki in 2015. In 2020, I organized and taught an international lecture course "Sea, Nature and Finnish Culture", which was especially popular among exchange students. In addition to sole lectures and courses, I have led thematic seminar courses for the MA students of Cultural History from 2013 to 2018. During the first years, I led the seminar on Oral History. Since 2015, I have led the "Memory and Narrative" seminar with my colleague Maarit Leskelä-Kärki and later with Karoliina Sjö. In 2021, I taught a seminar on Environmental and Maritime history.
- The Giant Squid: Imagining and Encountering the Unknown from the 1760s to the 1890s (2019) Otto Latva
(G4 Monograph dissertation) - Vesi: maailmaa muuttava historiallinen voima (2019)
- Kritiikki
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Koukussa Norppaliveen - villieläinten tosi-tv (2018)
- Turun Sanomat
(E1 Popularised article) - Monitieteisyys ja humanistinen tutkimus (2017)
- Tiedepolitiikka
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - AHA eli aallonharjalle (2016)
- Hiiskuttua: Turun yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan verkkolehti
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Knowing and decorating the world: illustrations and textual descriptions in the maps of the fourth edition of the Mercator-Hondius Atlas (1613) (2016)
- Approaching Religion
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Muutama sana Nantucketista, materiasta ja aaveista (2016) Latva Otto
(E1 Popularised article) - Punainen Etelä-Pohjanmaa (2016) Maamme. Itsenäisen Suomen kulttuurihistoria Otto Latva
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Punakorvakilpikonna – 1990-luvun suomalaisperheiden "kesäkissa" (2016) Maamme. Itsenäisen Suomen kulttuurihistoria Otto Latva
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Hiljaiset syvyydet – tiedemiesten, tutkimusmatkailijoiden ja kirjailijoiden mielikuvia pinnanalaisesta äänimaisemasta 1800-luvulta 1870-luvulle (2015) Hiljaisuuden kulttuurihistoria Otto Latva
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Kortti kiekkomaailmaan (2015) Kiekkokansa Otto Latva
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Juutinrauman merimunkki – Merieläimen ja ihmisen hybridi 1500-luvun Euroopassa (2014)
- Lähde - Historiatieteellinen Aikakauskirja
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Velho, syntipukki, kömpelö tyhmyri ja kirvesmies. Suomalaismerimiesten toiseus 1800-luvun ja 1900-luvun meriaiheisessa kirjallisuudessa. (2014) Moni-ilmeinen merihistoria. Nautica Fennica 2013-2014 Otto Latva
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - "Nuata näkyjä hevin ei unohtaa voikkaa, soravaunuja, veturia, topparoikkaa" - Rautatien vaikutus Teuvan Perälän kylän elämään 1900-luvun alusta 1970-luvulle (2012) Latva Otto
(G2 Master’s thesis, polytechnic Master’s thesis)