The Research Council of Finland’s Scientific Council for Social Sciences and Humanities has decided on funding for 40 new Academy Research Fellows and 61 new Academy Projects, which involve a total of 76 subprojects. In addition to Mikko Meriläinen, Olli Kuparinen (ITC Faculty) and Natalya Bekhta (SOC Faculty) were also awarded funding from Tampere University.
Academy Research Fellowship funding is intended for talented early-career researchers on a fast career track who have formed international networks and who are conducting scientifically high-quality and high-impact research that contributes to scientific renewal.
Mikko Meriläinen: Beyond hegemony: Rethinking men and masculinities in game culture
In his study, Meriläinen investigates how men experience, negotiate, and subvert normative expectations of masculinity and express agency as they participate in game cultures. The project focuses on the intersections of masculinity and game cultures in the context of both digital and non-digital gaming, with an emphasis on men’s agency and reflexivity. The project contests the pessimistic paradigm in game studies work on men and masculinities and increases our understanding of the complex connections of masculinities and gaming. The approach places men at the centre of game culture equity work and shifts this labour away from discriminated groups. See the funding decision to read more about Mikko Meriläinen’s research.