Thank you to everyone who participated in the development and activities of TaSTI this past academic year! The active contribution of the STS community has been significant and heartwarming. A lot of research has been produced, and many interesting discussions and encounters have taken place – this provides a great foundation to continue from. Have a great summer!
Best wishes, Mianna Meskus, TaSTI Director
This final newsletter of the spring includes information about upcoming events, recent publications and courses coordinated by TaSTI in 2025-2026.
Upcoming events
- Reading group (in Finnish) on David Golumbia’s book Cyberlibertarianism. The Right-Wing Politics of Digital Technology on Wed 20 August at 12.00–17.00 (new schedule!), organized by the TechPhilo research group. To sign up and for more information: jaana.parviainen@tuni.fi and https://research.tuni.fi/techphilo/tapahtuma/mita-on-kyberlibertarianismi/
- Gendered Chronic Disease, Embodied Differences and Biomedical Knowledge (GenDis) project at TaSTI organises an international symposium Gender and Chronic Illness: Exploring Clinical Practices, Health Activism and Lived Experience on 26-27 August 2025. The symposium asks how gender as a category is mobilised across clinical settings, health activism and lived experiences in chronic conditions such as endometriosis, migraine, fibromyalgia, HIV and ADHD. Registration opens soon: https://research.tuni.fi/tasti-en/event/symposium-gender-and-chronic-illness-tampere-university-26-27-august-2025/
- The Finnish Society for Science and Technology Studies (FSSTS) 40th anniversary event will take place on 18-19 September 2025 at the University of Helsinki. There will be a celebratory lecture by Jane Calvert (University of Edinburgh) on 19 September and a PhD workshop on 18 September. TaSTI participates in organizing the event.
- TaSTI research seminar Studying animals from social science perspectives on October 2-3, 2025, at Tampere University, will delve into the human-animal intersections and explore questions related to animal experimentation, ethics of human-non-human relations, animal rights and human-animal welfare. The seminar includes presentations drawing from multispecies studies, post-humanist thinking, and new materialism, among others. Pru Hobson-West (Professor of Science, Medicine and Society, University of Nottingham, UK) will give a keynote lecture on “Vaccines, veterinarians, and the entanglement of human and animal healthcare”. See full program and register by September 22: https://research.tuni.fi/tasti/uutinen/tasti-research-seminar-studying-animals-from-social-science-perspectives-2-3-october-2025/
Upcoming courses in science, technology and innovation studies (2025-2026)
- YKT.229 Tiede ja teknologia yhteiskunnassa, 25.8.2025 – 6.10.2025
- YKT.YKE.601 Tieteen- ja teknologiantutkimuksen teoriat ja käsitteet:
- Biotiede, teknologia ja ruumiilliset erot, 2.3.2026 – 8.5.2026
- YKT.YKE.604 Research Areas in Social Studies of Science and Technology/Tieteen- ja teknologiantutkimuksen erityisalat:
- Waste in social scientific research, 23.10.2025 – 4.12.2025
- Taming uncertainty: Risk, finance, welfare, 21.10.2025 – 18.12.2025
- Terveyssosiologia, 21.10.2025 – 18.12.2025
- Yhteiskuntafilosofia: Tekoälyn etiikka, 20.10.2025 – 1.12.2025
- Professional Expertise in Social Sciences, Innovation for Sustainability, 5.3.2026 – 31.5.2026
- Johdatus visuaaliseen tutkimukseen, 3.3.2026 – 28.4.2026
Recent publications by the TaSTI research community
- Caine, A., Lehmuskallio, A. & Toister, Y. (2025). Speculative Camera. Philosophy of Photography 16(1), 25-41. https://doi.org/10.1386/pop_00102_1
- Favero, P. S., & Lehmuskallio, A. (2025). Visual Studies: A Social Scientific Perspective. Routledge.
- Ganesh, A., Temmes, M., & Rokkonen, L. A. (2025). Gendering Chronic Illness in Patient Advocacy. Australian Feminist Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2025.2488425
- Hupli, A., Unlu, A., Hagfors, H. & J. Jylkkä (2025). Predictors of medical and non-medical motives of cannabis use in Finland: A cross-sectional survey study. iScience 28(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112503
- Kolehmainen, M. (2025). Networked Care: Worlding Mental Well-Being in a Digital Age. Sociology of Health & Illness 47: e70037. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.70037
- Lehikoinen, A., Reinekoski, T., Janasik, N., Ahvenainen, M. & Hukkinen, J. I. (2025). Participatory Bayesian Networks for uncovering reflexive unknowns in strategic environmental risk management. Journal of Environmental Management 384, 125373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125373
- Lehtonen, T-K (2025). The Bigger Pictures of L’État Providence: On François Ewald’s Theorisation of the Insurantial Society. The British Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13204
News and other activities
- A blog article by Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen (in Finnish): Digitaalinen valvonta ja vakuutus paimentajana.
- A blog article by Jaana Parviainen (in Finnish): Luottamus algoritmisen päätöksenteon aikakaudella. Alusta 26.4.2025.
- Kone Foundation’s Vuoden tiedekynä award was given to TaSTI members Anna Rajala and Tiina Vaittinen for their co-authored article. The annual award is for an academic article that demonstrates exemplary use of the Finnish language. More on the award (in Finnish): https://www.tuni.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/vuoden-tiedekyna-voittajat-pureutuvat-synnytyksen-jalkeisiin-vaivoihin-ja
- TaSTI Vice Director Mika Kautonen has been awarded the Golden Medal founded by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies and Universities Finland UNIFI. This honour was based on the Tampere University Foundation’s recommendation and recognised his 30 years of service to science.
- On 6 May 2025, Sima Constantine Sima, Mayor of Mwanza City in Tanzania, and Billy Brown, International Cooperation Coordinator visited TaSTI, hosted by Mika Kautonen, to explore cooperation opportunities in sustainability transition projects.
The next TaSTI newsletter will be published in September. If you have news that would be of interest to the TaSTI community, please contact Venla Oikkonen venla.oikkonen@tuni.fi