The Dept. of General History, University of Turku, the FIDIPRO programme Multiculturalism as a new pathway to incorporation, and the Institute of Migration will organize in Turku an international seminar on the Finnish-American Immigrants in Transition 2009, on June 1st and 2nd, 2009.
The tradition of studying Finns in America as an academic skill dates to the 1920’s. Thereafter, a large number of studies on Finns in America has been carried on in Finland, United States and Canada. The actual flourishing of the studies and writing migrant histories began in the 1960’s and 1970’s. At the same time even the founding of a number special archives and research institutions took place, such as the Institute of Migration in Turku and the Immigration History Research Center in Minneapolis (University of Minnesota). Consequently, migration studies and migration history stabilized their place in the field of teaching and studying.
The seminar invites together the active scholars of the topic in various countries. Also, the aim is to get involved researchers from related fields of study who are interested in migration history, as well as other interested parties. The preliminary list of presenters includes specialists from Finland, United States, Canada and Denmark. The seminar offers a good possibility to strengthen the researcher networks and contacts.
Many of the topics discussed are of great relevance today, since we face quite similar problems in various societies and even in international relations. The seminar focuses on the history of the Finns in North America as well as its interpretation, and discusses the changing Finnish-American immigrant communities and their members.
The expression of change refers primarily to the problem of generations, acculturation and assimilation, as well as the changing immigrant cultures. The focal point is on the preservation of ethnic specifications, how these specific features have been preserved, lost or transformed, while at the same time the immigrant community always has functioned in the context of the host society. The aim is also to present possibilities of multidisciplinary approaches in the study of the history of the Finns in North America and in more general terms, in the history of the migrant communities.
Proposals for presenting papers in the workshops mentioned below shall be sent to Mr. Tuomas Räsänen (turasa[AT]utu.fi) by March 2, 2009. They should not exceed 250 words. Approval of the proposals will be announced on March 15, 2009.
The language of the seminar will be primarily English.
For hotel information, see below.
Preliminary program in Turku, June 1.-2.2009
Dates: June 1.-2.2009
Place: Siirtolaisuusinstituutti - Institute of Migration, Eerikinkatu 34, 20100 Turku Finland
Organizers: Univ. of Turku, Dept. of General History and FIDIPRO programme Multiculturalism as a new pathway to incorporation; Institute of Migration.
chair: Auvo Kostiainen (aukosti@utu.fi); seminar secretary: Tuomas Räsänen (turasa@utu.fi)
June 1, 2009
12.00 Opening words: Rector Keijo Virtanen (Univ. of Turku); Director Olavi Koivukangas (Institute of Migration)
12.15 Prof. Andrés Reséndez (Univ. of California Davis; Univ. of Helsinki Bicentennial Chair), Forming Immigrant Identities
13.00 Ph.D. Sr. Lecturer Garbi Schmidt (Danish National Centre for Social Research, Copenhagen), Norms and Values in the Integration Process of the Immigrant
13.45 Prof. (emer.) Reino Kero (Univ. of Turku), The Background of Emigration
14.30 Coffee Break
14.45 Prof. Arnold Alanen (Univ. of Wisconsin, USA), Immigrant Landscapes
15.30 Prof. George Hummasti (Univ. of Missouri, USA), Alcohol and the Immigrant Finns
16.15 Prof. Varpu Lindstöm and PhD cand. Samira Saramo (Univ. of North York, Toronto, Canada), The Finnish-Canadian Immigrant Experience
Commentator for day one: Prof. Jon Saari (Northern Mich. University, USA)
19.00 Evening program: cruise to Naantali
June 2, 2009
9.00 Prof. Auvo Kostiainen (Univ. of Turku), Writing of the Finnish-American History
9.45 Prof. Peter Kivisto (Augustana College, USA), Race as an Issue in American Immigration History
10.30 Coffee Break
10.45 Prof. Mika Roinila (Bethel College, USA), Swedish-Finnish Experience in North America
11.30 Ph.D. cand. Johanna Leinonen (Univ. of Minnesota, USA), Multicultural Family Histories
12.30 Lunch
13.30 Workshops
A: Images of the Finns in North America (chair Hannu Heinilä, HAMK)
B: Finnish North-Americans Today (chairs Jouni Korkiasaari, Institute of Migration and Mika Roinila, Bethel College, USA))
C: Other (to be announced)
15.00 Workshop reporting
Commentator for day two: Prof. Jon Saari (Northern Mich. University, USA)
16. Closing words
Hotel information:
There is a special price for Hotel Centro downtown Turku at 72 € per night http://www.centrohotel.com/en/index.html. Contact the hotel with code “Finnish-American Immigrants in Transition”, reservation no. 36093. For other Turku hotels, see
In English 
