THUNDER BAY — Lakehead University is welcoming an international scholar as endowed chair in Finnish studies starting next fall.
Dr. Jarmo Peltola will start in September 2024 and hold the position until April 2025.
Peltola comes from the University of Helsinki where he served as an associate professor and senior researcher in economic and social history.
During his time at Lakehead, Peltola will deliver lectures to undergraduate students, conduct research, and explore the development of partnerships in the community.
“This opportunity offers me a trip to my own past. Many of my relatives left for ‘America’ at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some of them settled in the Great Lakes region.
"This visiting professorship allows me to explore this past and will provide me with an excellent opportunity to complete my research database, which I have collected from the population of the industrial city of Tampere,” Peltola said.
“Many workers from Tampere ended up going to Canada and the United States between 1900 and 1940. The reason for leaving was sometimes the desire for adventure, but very often, the pursuit of a better standard of living. Political reasons also often influenced the departure.”
Peltola spent 13 years as a senior researcher at the University of Tampere and served as a visiting researcher at Umeå University and Uppsala University in Sweden and at the International Institute of Social History.
Peltola has published 18 monographs and 36 articles/book chapters exploring a wide range of Finnish economic, labour, and social history.
"The Department of History is pleased to host Dr. Peltola,” said department chair Dr. Michael Stevenson.
“His distinguished interdisciplinary research record on the economic, political, and social history of Finland, as well as the history of the Finnish diaspora in North America, will be of great interest to Lakehead students and the general public in the Thunder Bay region.”
“Dr. Peltola’s appointment is another example of the university’s close relationship with the Finnish communities in Thunder Bay, across Canada, and overseas,” added Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu, Associate Vice Provost (Academic).
The Chair in Finnish Studies was established in 1996 and is an endowed appointment at Lakehead University’s Thunder Bay campus.
It was created and is sustained by the support of the Finnish community of Thunder Bay and its organizations, particularly the Canadian Suomi Foundation.
