In my doctoral dissertation, I study the institutionalisation of the Russo-Swedish border(land) in the 18th century. The interests of the physical, institutional and mental border formation reflected in the local community.
In the project Towns on the eastern border of the Swedish Great Power, I study social networks and power relation in Kexholm (Käkisalmi) in the late 17th century.
I am a member of a research network Pax Nordica: Experiences and lessons of the Nordic Peace, ca 1721–1830.
Teaching
Paleography (3 cp), Intermediate studies in history
In my current research project, Faith-based development efforts at times of emerging multipolar world order in Madagascar (FAITHDEV), I examine what faith-based development actors do in situations where official development aid from states been reduced or stopped altogether. In discussions concerning faith-based development actors, a need for further information has been identified, particularly regarding the activities of local religious actors. The research focuses on Madagascar, which is located in sub-Saharan Africa, in the western Indian Ocean. Religious groups, especially traditional Christian communities, are key societal actors in Madagascar. In addition, newer religious groups are emerging, each leading their own development projects across the country. The research investigates how these religious development actors operate amidst the climate crisis, shifting multipolar world order and geopolitical changes. The study draws on insights from anthropology, religious studies, development studies, and theology. The main methods used in the study are ethnographic fieldwork and interviews.
Previously, I have worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland in the project Climate Crisis and Religious Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, funded by the Kone Foundation, as well as in the Trees for Development project in Global Development studies at the University of Helsinki. In my doctoral dissertation in social and cultural anthropology (University of Helsinki), I examined, from the perspectives of environmental anthropology and political ecology, large-scale environmental conservation projects in rural northeastern Madagascar. In addition to environmental conservation, the themes of my dissertation included, among others, ecotourism, agriculture, human-nature relations, ritual and debt.
I am affiliated with interdisciplinary Indian Ocean World Center at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and I belong to an interdisciplinary research group Religion, Ecology and Diversity. I serve as an editor of Suomen antropologi -journal.
My research involves measurement and analysis of human motion, particularly walking. Some of my points of focus are:
- Markerless motion capture
- Wearable motion sensors and inertial measurement units
- Musculoskeletal modeling and simulation
- Estimation of knee contact forces
- Machine learning in motion analysis
- Real-time analysis methods
- Open data
Please contact me via email ([email protected]) if you wish to discuss my work, potential collaboration, or simply have a question for me.
GitHub: https://github.com/jerela/
I carry out research on the recent and contemporary history on the countries of the Former Soviet Union. At present, there is an especial emphasis on the five countries of Central Asia. My research interests range from very specific, localized events and their impacts, to broad understandings of the interactions of time and space and the legacies of empires and long-distance trade routes on peripheral landscapes. My current projects involve work on post-Soviet borders, the role concern for ethnic Russians in neighbouring countries plays in Russian policy making, and constitutional arrangements and understandings of national minority rights in new post-Imperial countries.
Joni Virkkunen (PhD, title of docent) works as a Research Manager at the Karelian Institute. He is also the Director of the VERA Centre for Russian and Border Studies, a member of the executive board of the UEF’s top-level research area Borders, Mobilities and Cultural Encounters (BOMOCULT) and of the cross-faculty Doctoral Programme in Social and Cultural Encounters. His research relates to borders, border governance, cross-border cooperation, EU-Russian relations, regional and cross-border cooperation and transnational migration in Russian and post-Soviet contexts. He has been recently studying, for example, the Northern Dimension policy and the regional impacts of EU-Russia relations, local meanings of the border and cross-border cooperation, the 2015-2016 Arctic migration route through/from Russia to Finland and, recently, temporary protection holders from Ukraine. The latter he has been studying through Finnish and Russian migration and border policies, publicity and public debates, migrants’ everyday insecurities, and informal practices.
My research is situated within practical theology and theology of wellbeing, with a particular focus on crises—both individual and collective. In terms of individual crises, my focus is on family relationships. Regarding collective crises, I have explored experiences of meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as older adults’ responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, I have studied the religious and ideological non-alignment of theological education. My most recent research focuses on religious deidentification—a process in which individuals withdraw from organized religion while retaining personally meaningful elements of religiosity.
In my research as a human geographer I explore the interface between society and nature. I investigate the ways local communities in both urban and rural surroundings come to terms with the transforming spaces and environments, which includes research into the politics of conservation of biodiversity. Often focussing on the local scale as a lens through which to examine broader societal and political transformations, there is a crucial multi-scalar dimension in my research.
Jussi Karkkulainen holds a Doctor of Laws degree and works as a University Lecturer in the disciplines of criminal law and procedural law. In addition, he has teaching responsibilities in forensic psychology and on courses focusing on the general professional skills required of lawyers. He supervises doctoral dissertations in criminal law and procedural law and serves as a member of the UEF Law School’s research management group.
In his doctoral thesis, Target intent – A railway journey to volition in the circumstance elements of a criminal offence, Karkkulainen focused on the assessment of intent on the basis of the offender’s formation of will. In addition to the general doctrines of criminal law, he has conducted research on, among other things, sexual offences, property offences and hate crimes, legal issues related to sport, decision-making concerning the release of life prisoners, and the significance of creativity in legal research.
Karkkulainen’s research is characterised by critical engagement, creativity, and a future-oriented approach. Through legal research, he seeks to identify solutions to various national and global threats, such as hate speech, inequality, and organised crime. He also conducts research in university pedagogy. For this reason, his research is both multi-method and interdisciplinary: in addition to different strands of doctrinal legal research, he employs empirical methods such as qualitative content analysis, autoethnography, and critical discourse analysis.
In the academic year 2026–2027, Karkkulainen works as a teacher in the following courses:
- European Criminal and Procedural Law 3 ECTS
- International and Transnational Criminal Law 5 ECTS
- Seminar on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law 5 ECTS
- Master’s Thesis and Seminar, Criminal and Procedural Law 40 ECTS
- Introduction to Criminal Law 5 ECTS
- Assessment of evidence in criminal and civil cases 9 ECTS
- Legal Communication, Creativity and Influencing 5 ECTS
