I started working at the School of Theology of the University of Eastern Finland in August 2022. My background is in study of religions. I received my doctorate from the University of Helsinki in 2015. Between 2015 and 2022, I worked as Postdoctoral Researcher and University Lecturer (fixed-term) at the same university. I have been granted the title of docent from the University of Helsinki in 2023.
My research is situated in-between anthropology and sociology of religion. I study contemporary Finnish religiosity and spirituality, often focusing on Orthodox Christianity. I am particularly interested in everyday lived expressions of religion and their embodied, material, ritual, and experiential dimensions. Through this grass-roots lens, I examine questions related to stability and change in individual religiosity; religion, power, and intersectionality; and the porous boundaries between religion, spirituality, and secular society and culture.
My research is qualitative in nature and utilizes ethnographic as well as written data. In and through my work, I engage with various theoretical discussions, such as critical social theory, practice theory, ritual theory, social memory studies, semiotic anthropology, theories of conversion, anthropological theories of learning, and feminist theory.
Research projects in which I participate or have participated:
Meaningful Deathscapes (2024-2028)
Learning from New Religion and Spirituality (2019-2023)
Conversion to Orthodox Christianity and Class culture among Finnish Cultural Professionals (2019-2022)
Embodied Religion (2013-2017)
Hi! I’m Helena, a postdoctoral researcher in the field of social psychology. I work in a research project “Intergroup relations and local encounters” which is funded by the Kone Foundation and led by Associate Professor Jari Martikainen from the University of Eastern Finland. The research project focuses on studying how Ukrainian, Middle Eastern, and Finnish young people living in the Savo area perceive each other, their lives, and their future in multicultural Savo. In my own research, I focus on how people’s representations of themselves and others shape their actions in society and intergroup relations through qualitative research. Alongside the research itself, I teach and supervise in the subject of social psychology.
In my doctoral thesis, published in 2025, I studied Finnish lay people’s perceptions of populism. In my research, I delved into how voters for the radical right populist Finns Party and other parties constructed social divisions in the interview data. My dissertation was a part of a larger research project called “Mobilizing Populism”, which was lead by Professor Inari Sakki from the University o Helsinki. My doctoral thesis and its sub-studies are listed below:
- Rovamo, H. (2025). ”Aren’t they accusing the Finns Party of being populist?” Dialogical construction of social categories in Finnish voters’ discourse. Doctoral dissertation. Dissertations in Social Sciences and Business Studies, 354. University of Eastern Finland. https://erepo.uef.fi/items/6aafd684-511a-4c28-beed-0f81ee5e85e4
- Rovamo, H., Pettersson, K., & Sakki, I. (2023). Who’s to blame for failed integration of immigrants? Blame attributions as an affectively polarizing force in lay discussions of immigration in Finland. Political Psychology, 45(2), 235–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12917
- Rovamo, H., & Sakki, I. (2023). Lay representations of populism: discursive negotiation of naturalized social representation. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology., 34(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2755
- Rovamo, H., & Sakki, I. (2024). Mobilization of shared victimhood in the radical right populist Finns Party supporters’ identity work: A narrative-discursive approach to populist support. European Journal of Social Psychology, 54(2), 495–512. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3021
Before my studies in social sciences, I graduated as a nurse from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences. I consider that my professional strengths are, on the one hand, my ability to be analytical and systematic and, on the other, my ability to listen and have empathy towards others.
In my work, I get excited about learning or practicing something new every day. I enjoy conversations and listening to others. I sometimes immerse myself in details, but I also love to outline big patterns.
The project I am currently working on focuses on the ecology and preventive management of the turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae L.). My work combines chemical ecology, agricultural plant science and entomology. The project is funded by the Kone Foundation and I collaborate with the Natural Research Institute Finland and the University of Eastern Finland.
My research in Health and Human Services Informatics focuses on client and patient safety, particularly from the perspective of technology and the use of digital services. I teach a variety of courses in our master’s program, including information ethics and information security, data modeling and analysis, and evidence-based social and health care. In addition, I teach online courses on client and patient safety, as well as data protection and security.
I supervise several master’s theses in the Health and Human Services Informatic -program.
I also work as a researcher in the Digital Safety project at the Research Center for Nursing Science and Health and Social Care Management in the North Savo Wellbeing Services County (Digiturvallisuus-hanke – Pohjois-Savo).
I am a society member of the IMIA Nursing Informatics (IMIA NI) under our international umbrella organization, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). I’m a member of the EFMI (European Federation of Medical Informatics) NI – Nursing Informatics – EFMI.- working group. Additionally, I serve as the secretary of the Board of the Finnish Society for Health and Social Care Informatics (Toiminta – Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon tietojenkäsittely-yhdistys).
I am CSR-trained and actively involved in the activities of the Finnish JBI Collaboration Centre.
Heli´s research interests are located in the realm of youth education an working life pathways and of identity and agency studies.
My research focuses on spoken English, regional and social variation and change, and language contacts and multilingualism. My PhD thesis dealt with the impact of the Welsh language on English language variation and change in Wales, and I continue to have an interest in the Englishes of the Celtic culture regions. I have also carried on studying the grammar of contact-induced varieties of English in other parts of the world using corpus methods. The central position of English as a world language means that its global variation and diversity have become important contents in English language teacher education.
More recently, I have directed my attention to English in Finland and its role as a linguistic resource in our everyday lives in different contexts, such as Eastern Finnish Twitter or multilingual community arts. I have also expanded my interest into multilingual interaction in other fields of life in Finnish society, building interdisciplinary bridges into social sciences and nursing science.
Main areas of research and teaching: Language variation and change, Language contacts and multilingual interaction, Sociolinguistics, World Englishes and English as a global language, English language teaching, English and multilingualism in the workplace.
The main research focus is on sustainable management and use of boreal forests for different ecosystem services, while considering the changing operating environment, multiple climatic risks to forests, and the need to adapt to, and mitigate, climate change.
I work in study and career guidance program as a university teacher, and in addition to teaching and supervising internships, I am a doctoral researcher. My core competence in teaching is linked to the themes of encounter and interaction at the levels of individual, small group and community guidance, taking social aspects into account.
My doctoral research centers on “As a girl in high school” and at the core of my research is the exploration of the subjective experiences of high school girls in the context of upper secondary school. And on the other hand, what kind of reality of high schools their speech describes in this neoliberal society.
Before my university career, I have worked in different contexts in individual, group guidance and teaching work for people of different ages and in different life situations. The critical review and development work of steering is close to my heart and I have worked in seven different research and development projects during my career. At the University of Eastern Finland, I have worked as an expert, trainer and researcher in the following guidance research and development projects: “Kick Start for Higher Education -project”, “Pathway to Upper Secondary School” project and the “Guidance Expertise in Collaboration” project.
I work as a university lecturer in social work at the Department of Social Sciences (50%) and as a coordinator of doctoral researchers at Sosnet (50%). By education I am a social worker (YTT), a solution-focused therapist and a work supervisor. I have focused on the research themes of illness and health social work and work supervision in an interdisciplinary manner. I have worked as a special expert at the Finnish Cancer Society, the principal investigator of the support for people with cancer and their close ones project and developed the care pathway for people with cancer. I currently lead two research groups; Change in Health Social Work and the Work Supervision Pilot for Doctoral Researchers. I have strong work experience in practical social work. In recent years I have worked, among other things, as a university lecturer, director of basic health care and a special expert at the Finnish Cancer Society, where I worked as the principal investigator in the support for people with cancer and their close ones project. I am also broadly interested in research themes related to prevention, holistic well-being and practical social work methods. In addition to theory. I also do some work supervision on a small scale. More: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2131-5442
I’m an expert in Finnish language and linguistics. Besides Finnish, my research field includes other Finnic languages, of which Karelian had recently been in special focus. I started my research with topics related to spoken language and language contacts and I have gradually moved towards studying endangered languages and revitalization. My key concept is ‘majority responsibility’: as a speaker of the majority language, Finnish, I feel I also have the obligation to look after the country’s minority languages. My aim is to develop sustainable multilingualism where linguistic diversity is seen as a resource.
