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;
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.
- Environmental heritage for sustainability (2023) Understanding Marine Changes: Environmental Knowledge and Methods of Research Tynkkynen Nina, Kouri Jaana, Laine Silja, Latva Otto, Räsänen Tuomas, Sonck-Rautio Kirsi
(Refereed article in compilation book (A3)) - The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture. The Monsterization of Molluscs (2023) Latva Otto
(Refereed scientific book or report (C1)) - Eläimet, kasvit ja kulttuurihistoria (2022) Kulttuurihistorian tutkimus. Lähteistä menetelmiin ja tulkintaan Latva Otto, Lähdesmäki Heta
(Refereed article in compilation book (A3)) - Epilogi (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
(Book chapter (B2)) - HumBio - tutkimushanke Itämeren eläinten ja kasvien pitkän aikavälin vuorovaikutuksesta ihmisten kanssa (2022)
- Historia nyt - Turun Historiallisen Yhdistyksen jäsenlehti
(Article or data-article in scientific journal (B1)) - Iku-Turso asiantuntijan silmin (2022) Veenkoirasta vaakalintuun: Kalevalan eläimiä Latva Otto
(Book chapter (B2)) - Johdanto (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
(Refereed article in compilation book (A3)) - Meri ja Tove : elämää saaristossa (2022) Latva Otto, Leskelä-Kärki Maarit
(Popularised or unrefereed scientific book (E2)) - Mitä monilajinen historiantutkimus voi kertoa suhteestamme turkiseläimiin? (2022)
- Animalia-media
(Popularised article or blog post (E1)) - Muiden lajien elinkaari ja keski-ikä (2022) Keski-Ikä. Kulttuurihistoria Latva Otto
(Book chapter (B2)) - Murhatöitä Perälässä vuoden 1918 sisällissodan aikaan (2022)
- Tejuka
(Popularised article or blog post (E1)) - The Problem of Plastic in the Arctic (2022) Cold Waters. Tangible and Symbolic Seascapes of the North Latva Otto, Tynkkynen Nina
(Refereed article in compilation book (A3)) - Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? (2022) Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
(Editorship of a scientific special issue, book or conference proceedings (C2)) - Turkiseläin tuotteena 1800-luvun Suomessa (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaski Liisa, Latva Otto
(Refereed article in compilation book (A3)) - Tyylikkäät vuodet: Turun yliopiston ylioppilaskunnan sata vuotta (2022) Artukka Topi, Lalu Liisa, Latva Otto, Savolainen Panu
(Popularised or unrefereed scientific book (E2)) - Editorial (2021)
- Trace: Finnish Journal for Human-Animal Studies
(Article or data-article in scientific journal (B1)) - Eläimet avaruudessa - Kuviteltuja olentoja, ihailtuja sankareita ja hyväksikäytettyjä koe-eläimiä (2021) Kuviteltu avaruus. Matkoja maan ulkopuolelle Latva Otto, Lähdesmäki Heta
(Book chapter (B2)) - Elokuvien linnut (2021) Turun romantikko. Esseitä Hannu Salmelle Latva Otto
(Book chapter (B2)) - Elonkirjon muutosten ymmärtämiseen tarvitaan myös humanistista tutkimustietoa (2021)
- Turun yliopiston blogi
(Popularised article or blog post (E1)) - Ihmisten ja eläinten jaettu menneisyys (2021) Hyvä ja paha tieto Latva Otto
(Popularised article or blog post (E1))