Otto Latva
PhD, Adjunct Professor
onilat@utu.fi +358 29 450 3450 +358 50 328 9846 Arcanuminkuja 1 Turku : A213 |
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.
- Introduction - The Human Relationship with the Changing Biodiversity (2024) Arrivals and Departures: The Human Relationship with Changing Biodiversity Latva, Otto; Lähdesmäki, Heta; Sonck-Rautio, Kirsi; Uusitalo, Harri
- Introduction: Towards a history of animal industries in the Nordic countries (2024) Animal Industries: Nordic Perspectives on the Exploitation of Animals since 1860 Jalava Marja, Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto, Nikkilä Eeva, Räsänen Tuomas, Syrjämaa Taina
- “It is Like Diving in a Pea Soup”: The Development of the Relationship between Humans and Blue-Green Algae in Finland in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries (2024) Arrivals and Departures: The Human Relationship with Changing Biodiversity Latva, Otto; Sonck-Rautio, Kirsi; Jämsä, Aino
- Lohikäärme myyteissä ja tarinoissa (2024) Latva Otto
- Alkusanat (2023) Opiskelijatöiden helmiä: museologia & arkistoala ja asiakirjahallinta 2022-2023 Mäki Maija, Latva Otto, Salmi Laura, Saarikoski Jaana, Pihlman Sirkku
- 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
- Opiskelijatöiden helmiä 2022-2023: Museologia & arkistoala ja asiakirjahallinta (2023) Helminen Hanne, Mäki Maija, Latva Otto, Salmi Laura, Saarikoski Jaana, Pihlman Sirkku
- The Giant Squid in Transatlantic Culture. The Monsterization of Molluscs (2023) Latva Otto
- Eläimet, kasvit ja kulttuurihistoria (2022) Kulttuurihistorian tutkimus. Lähteistä menetelmiin ja tulkintaan Latva Otto, Lähdesmäki Heta
- Epilogi (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
- HumBio - tutkimushanke Itämeren eläinten ja kasvien pitkän aikavälin vuorovaikutuksesta ihmisten kanssa (2022)
- Historia nyt - Turun Historiallisen Yhdistyksen jäsenlehti
- Iku-Turso asiantuntijan silmin (2022) Veenkoirasta vaakalintuun: Kalevalan eläimiä Latva Otto
- Johdanto (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
- Meri ja Tove : elämää saaristossa (2022) Latva Otto, Leskelä-Kärki Maarit
- Mitä monilajinen historiantutkimus voi kertoa suhteestamme turkiseläimiin? (2022)
- Animalia-media
- Muiden lajien elinkaari ja keski-ikä (2022) Keski-Ikä. Kulttuurihistoria Latva Otto
- Murhatöitä Perälässä vuoden 1918 sisällissodan aikaan (2022)
- Tejuka
- The Problem of Plastic in the Arctic (2022) Cold Waters. Tangible and Symbolic Seascapes of the North Latva Otto, Tynkkynen Nina
- Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? (2022) Kaarlenkaski Taija, Latva Otto
- Turkiseläin tuotteena 1800-luvun Suomessa (2022) Tunteva tuote. Kuinka eläimistä tuli osa teollista tuotantoa? Kaski Liisa, Latva Otto