TaSTI Newsletter 1/2026

Upcoming events

• The next TaSTI early career research seminar will take place on 23 March 2026 (10:00-14:00, Linna 5014). The theme of the seminar is Concepts at work. More information: https://research.tuni.fi/tasti-en/news/tasti-early-career-research-seminar-23-march-2026/
• On Tue 9 June, TaSTI will co-organise a joint seminar with Marjo Kolehmainen’s Research Council of Finland project NetCare – Networked Care: Intimate Matters in Online Mental Health Support. More information coming soon.
• Nicole Braida (postdoctoral researcher, University of Turin) will visit TaSTI and give a talk on ”Knowledge, Epistemic (In)justice, and Diagnostic Inequalities in Endometriosis Care” on 17 April 2026 at 10:15-11:30 (Main building C113 lecture room C5). More information: https://research.tuni.fi/tasti-en/news/guest-lecture-nicole-braida-17-april-2026/
• Timothy Gitzen (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Wake Forest University) will give a talk on ”Speculating Microbes, Speculative Ethnography” on 10 April 2026 at 10 am–11 am. Zoom link: https://wakeforest-university.zoom.us/j/96972252161?pwd=HPSpZidavPHcjOlQm2EZb4MsCg9x69.1
• Helsinki Photomedia conference 15–17 April 2026 at Aalto University, Dipoli Conference center. Theme: Placeholders*, co-organized by Visual Studies Lab, https://helsinkiphotomedia.aalto.fi
• The 22nd annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP) ”Phenomenology in the Anthropocene”, Tampere University, 22–24 April 2026. More information: https://events.tuni.fi/nospconference2026/
• The Finnish Society for Science and Technology Studies (FSSTS) has launched an STS reading circle and STS research seminar, held online every first Monday of the month at 12pm via Zoom. The dates for the spring meetings are: 2.3.2026 seminar; 6.4.2026 reading circle; 4.5.2026 seminar; 1.6.2026 reading circle. Zoom link: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/64866167054?pwd=rWgdmy6fMjWrjK7Z5v1bFmrxShbKmV.1
• A live science theatre performance HELPDESK 112 (in Finnish) by researchers from the DIG1t0 project (https://projects.tuni.fi/digito/) based on research on the digital transformation of public services. Digitalisation is illuminated from the perspective of marginalized citizens. The Live Science Theatre format draws influence from performance art and documentary theatre with researchers and actors collaborating on stage. Final performance 1 April 2026 at Teatteri Telakka, Tampere. Tickets: https://www.selittavatekija.fi/

Upcoming courses in science, technology and innovation studies

• YKT.YKE.601 Tieteen- ja teknologiantutkimuksen teoriat ja käsitteet:
  • Biotiede, teknologia ja ruumiilliset erot, 6.3.2026 – 8.5.2026
• YKT.YKE.604 Research Areas in Social Studies of Science and Technology/Tieteen- ja teknologiantutkimuksen erityisalat:
  • Professional Expertise in Social Sciences, Innovation for Sustainability, 5.3.2026 – 31.5.2026. The course is a collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • Johdatus visuaaliseen tutkimukseen, 3.3.2026 – 28.4.2026
  • Sosiologian nykykeskusteluja (YKT.SOO.304): Datafikaatio talouden, hallinnon ja arjen ekologiassa, 5.3.–16.4.

Recent publications by the TaSTI research community

• Caine A, Lehmuskallio A & Toister Y (2025) The Speculative Camera. Philosophy of Photography16(1): 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1386/pop_00102_1
• Delaruelle K, Lermytte E, Bockstal M, Vuolanto P & Bracke P (2025) Unraveling COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Europeans 50 and older through a lens of preventive practices. Vaccine 43, 126485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126485
• Favero P & Lehmuskallio A (2025) Visual Studies. A Social Scientific Perspective. Routledge.
• Hamper J, Niemelä-Nyrhinen J, Davidjants J, Rose G, Tiidenberg K & Lehmuskallio A (2025) Learning From the Mess: What Happens in Social Media Elicitation Interviews. Qualitative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251346741
• Huttunen K, Artell J, Heinola K, Schulman A, Tienhaara A, Viitala S & Vainio A (2026) Is gene editing natural and does it matter? A qualitative analysis of citizen-consumers’ and farmers’ views on the use of new genomic techniques in plants. Agriculture and Human Values43(9). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-025-10821-1
• Lehmuskallio A & Haara P (2025) The Photojournalistic Paradox: Trust in Visual Journalism. In Dahmen N & Thomson TJ (eds) The Routledge Companion to Visual Journalism. Routledge.
• Lehmuskallio A (2025) Kuvanavigointia elementaalisessa mediassa: Purjehtimisen mediateoreettinen liike. Media ja Viestintä 48(3): 73–95. https://doi.org/10.23983/mv.157549
• Lehtonen T-K & Hämäläinen N (2026) Fieldwork in Philosophy: Articulating a Theoretical Sensibility. Human Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-025-09825-x
• Meskus M (2026) Populations, biologies and futures: Research on the scientific governing of life. In Faulkner A (ed.) A Research Agenda in Biomedicine & Society. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035325511.00008
• Numerato D, Hasmanová Marhánková J, Cardano M, Scavarda A, Gariglio L, Anderson A, Auvinen P, Bracke P, Hilário AP, Hobson-West P, Kuusipalo A, Lermytte E, Mendonça J, Polak P, Rudek TJ, Świątkiewicz-Mośny M, Vuolanto P & Wagner A (2026) Do Health Care Professionals Trust Parents? A Team Ethnography of Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy from Seven European Countries. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465251398796https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465251398796
• Pyyhtinen O & Meskus M (2025) Relationality in Posthuman Feminism. In Vandenberghe F & Papilloud C (eds) New Directions in Relational Sociology, Volume Two: Relations All the Way Down. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02413-8
• Rokkonen LA & Temmes M (2025) Hormonal migraine as the hardest to treat: Clinicians’ perceptions of biological and structural challenges in the medical care of migraine. European Journal of Women’s Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505068251397828
• Temmes M & Oikkonen V (2026) The Changing Landscape of Endometriosis Activism in Finland: At the Crossroads of Personalization and Digitalization of Health. In Lindén L, Nicholls E & Persdotter J (eds) Health Activism and Sexual Politics: Feminist Engagements with Health, Illness and the Body (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003319818
• Tsupari M & Hupli A (2026) From science to pleasure: justifications of the use of classic psychedelics in Finland. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 43(1): 63-80.https://doi.org/10.1177/14550725251408251