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Research interests
In my doctoral thesis, Vesi kuljettaa ääntä - Autoetnografinen tutkimus Lypyrtin kylän historiantuottamisesta (2017), I studied the history production of the old pilot village Lypyrtti, which is located in the south-western archipelago in Finland. The oral and written source material of the study was diverse, and an essential part of it was formed by ethnographic interviews, my research diary, and the book Lypyrtti-Lypertö, Kylä väylien varrella (2011), which I wrote on the village before conducting the thesis. While the thesis is autoethnographic, I also applied research methods used in oral history, microhistory, memory studies and environmental history.
Currently, I am combining two themes in multidisciplinary research. Firstly, I will continue the deduction of my dissertation by examining the experience-based knowledge of the people living by and with the Baltic Sea, mainly in the Turku archipelago. In my post doc research I have developed a method of getting material for experienced-based and tacit knowledge – memories, observations and experiences – by organizing creative writing workshops. In the workshops the role of the researcher is given also to the participants of the workshops i.e. the writers. Secondly, I examine imagination as a broader theoretical and analytical framework for tacit, situated and experience-based knowledge. As a special focus in my own discipline, in the study of religions, I will examine animism as a social imaginary as well as shamanism as a technique of co-imagination. I bring into the discussion the manifold agency of a researcher as someone who observes, experiences and conceptualises. My standpoint is strongly methodological. I am organising workshops to produce up-to-date data, focusing e.g. in creative writing, future research or shamanistic methods, together with other researches, stakeholders and practioners in the field.
In my work as a researcher and a teacher, I have practised and produced co-operative and interdisciplinary views. I am a founder member and an executive of the Wave Riders (AHA–Aallonharjalle in Finnish), a research and teaching laboratory for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University specialising in the study of maritime and other water systems.
Biography
At present I work as a researcher in the project Living with the Baltic Sea in a changing climate: Environmental heritage and the circulation of knowledge, which is funded by the Academy of Finland (2018–2022). Previously I worked as a University Teacher of Comparative Religion at the School of History, Culture, and Arts Studies in the University of Turku.
I have done two Master’s theses: one in Comparative Religion, in which I examined the position of the Seneca-Iroquois women before the year 1848, and the other in Education. I have also worked as a schoolteacher for fifteen years.
I have always been interested in creative (academic) writing as well as the writing process itself, and that is also something that I have practised and studied at the University. I have co-ordinated and edited several books, one of which I used as research material for my dissertation. I am also the chief editor of the book used for the entrance examination at the Department of Cultural Studies in the University of Turku.
I spend half the year living on a small island in the Finnish archipelago, and I enjoy spending time by or at the Baltic Sea.
Teaching
I am also a trained word art instructor. I organise workshops where the theme is often the sea and living with it.
Previously in my work as an University teacher, I taught introduction to the comparatative religion together with Terhi Utriainen, seminar in basic studies, religions in Asia and religions in Middle East, and introduction to cultural studies in Open University of Turku. As a university teacher my work included also the devising the personal curriculum of the basic studies with the students, coordinating of TurkuMcNet, Turku Network for Research on Multiculturalism and Societal Interaction, and upgrading and updating the webpages of the subject.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Network
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Ilmastonmuutosta koskeva tieto ja Itämeri
Tynkkynen, N., Kouri, J. & Laine, S.
01/01/19 → 31/12/21
Project: Research
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The change in the researcher’s position in the study of shamanism.
Kouri, J. & Hytönen-Ng, E., 1 Mar 2022, In: Approaching Religion. 12, 1, p. 117–131 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus) -
Voicing and Visualizing Change: Perceptions of Environmental Heritage in the Baltic Sea Region
Jetoo, S. & Kouri, J., 3 Aug 2021, In: Heritage . 4, 3, p. 1566-1589 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Open Access -
Irokeesi-mielikuva murtuu: Senecojen elämää ennen vuotta 1200 kertomusperinteen valossa
Kouri, J., 15 Jul 2020, In: Kajo´. 1, p. 8-17 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › General public
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Johdanto: Tutkimuskohteena ihmisen ja meren vuorovaikutus
Kouri, J., Räsänen, T. & Tynkkynen, N., 2 Nov 2020, Muutoksen tyrskyt ja kotirannan mainingit: Kulttuurisia näkökulmia merentutkimukseen . Kouri, J., Räsänen, T. & Tynkkynen, N. (eds.). Helsinki: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, p. 7-22 15 p. (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia ; no. 1462).Translated title of the contribution :Introduction: Human-sea interactions as a research object Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Open AccessFile15 Downloads (Pure) -
Kuvittelu ja uskonto: Taustoja, tulkintaa ja sovelluksia
Viholainen, A. (ed.), Kouri, J. (ed.) & Mahlamäki, T. (ed.), 15 Aug 2020, Helsinki: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura. 350 p. (Tietolipas; vol. 264)Translated title of the contribution :Imagination and religion Research output: Book/Journal/Report › Edited Book/Edited Journal › Scientific › peer-review
Activities
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Writing about Environmental Heritage
Silja Laine (Speaker) & Jaana Kouri (Speaker)
5 Aug 2021Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Environmental Heritage and the Human-Water Relationship in the Baltic Sea Past and Present
Jaana Kouri (Speaker)
8 Dec 2020Activity: Talk or presentation › Public or invited talk
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In the Shamanic Path
Jaana Kouri (Speaker)
1 Dec 2020Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Aallonharjalle -verkosto (External organisation)
Jaana Kouri (Member)
1 Nov 2020 → …Activity: Membership › Membership of board
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Approaching Religion (Journal)
Jaana Kouri (Reviewer)
1 Nov 2020Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Editorial work