Historical research aims at producing understanding of social structures, culture, economy, environment and social relations in the past. Cultural heritage studies show how historical knowledge and interpretations of the past are used today. Both areas of science explain why our circumstances and habits of living have either changed or remained similar for centuries. My special interest area, social science history, is focused on how people experienced historical phenomena and events and how people have used their agency in different kinds of societies and communities. I have studied the 19th and early 20th century port cities and seafaring population in particular. I defended my PhD thesis in 2016 in the University of Jyväskylä at the Department of History and Ethnology. In my dissertation, I was interested in how maritime work has shaped the modern paid work, family structures and gendered understanding of men and women. My latest post-doctoral works have discussed on the international mobility and migration of the Finnish mariners in the late age of sail as well as on seamen’s missionaries as promotors of social welfare and international relations.
I work currently as a university teacher in the University of Turku in the School of History, Culture and Arts studies. My work place is located in the University Consortium of Pori.