Arktis

Nedan hittar du pågående forskningsprojekt som berör Arktis.

Duration: 2017 - ongoing

Project leader: Susanna Rabow-Edling | Project page

When the Finnish part of the Swedish realm was ceded to Russia in 1809, the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland was formed. This meant that Finland became part of a vast empire, stretching from the Åland Islands to Alaska, which had important implications for the development of the country and for the opportunities and imaginings of its inhabitants. In fact, the Russian era was to become a very important century in Finnish history when the conditions for modern Finland were created.

From the 1830s, Finnish people started to benefit from this vast realm. They played a major role in the colonization of Alaska, in the Russian-American company, and in the whale fishery in the Pacific. This experience influenced notions of Finland’s relationship to the Empire and to the rest of the world. This project investigates how these imperial experiences, which were linked to Finland’s self-image and to conceptions of modernization, were expressed in Finnish culture from 1809 to 1867, when Alaska was sold to the United States. I am interested in the dreams and visions that this colony sparked in Finland and its impact on the creation of an imperial identity. What image of the colony and the empire was conveyed in its western periphery? How was Finland’s own role in relation to the colony and the empire’s civilizing mission in the new world portrayed?

Duration: 2016 - 2017

Project leader: Olga Bogolepova | Project page

The Network on Integrated Arctic Studies (IAS) is designed to provide a forum for exchange of knowledge and contacts among Nordic and Russian researchers working in the Russian Arctic. The main focus is on study of 1) geological evolution and mineral resources of the Russian Arctic and 2) processes at the interface of human practices and nature in Arctic environments. Results expected of the project will allow developing the scientific basis for further collaborative research projects and educational courses.