Department of General History
Kaivokatu 12
University of Turku
FI-20014 Turku
Finland
Tel.: +358 (0)2 333 5232 (Office)
Department of General History
The Department of General History at the University of Turku is one of the three history departments at the Faculty of Humanities, the others being Cultural History and Finnish History. The name General History descends from the late 19th century when it was seen necessary to distinguish the national history from the history of other countries. Still nowadays we concentrate on the world history – both Western and that of other cultures – taking economic, cultural, ideological, social and political history as its central elements. We though consider it necessary to bring an international perspective on issues of Finnish History as well.
The Staff
The staff of the Department of General History include two professors, three university lecturers, one lecturer for the Open University, a department secretary and one doctoral student who is responsible for coordinating the Erasmus programme and for providing student guidance. Furthermore the Department of General History has several project researchers and PhD students.
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Studying
Over 20 students per year receive their BA degrees in General History and approximately the same number attain their MA degrees. The language of tuition in BA and MA programs is Finnish, but we offer PhD studies in English. The department of General History is also actively taking part in two international Master’s programmes: European Heritage, Digital Media and the Information Society and Baltic Sea Region Studies.
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Research
At the Department of General History the research themes of the faculty members vary from the history of everyday life to international relations, and from the medieval period to contemporary history. Many of us also examine methodological and theoretical issues, such as historical thought, the philosophy of history and perceptions of time and space. Moreover, we have an essential commitment to interdisciplinary and international cooperation.
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Collections
The Department of General History holds a large archive of research materials. The Finnish migration collection and the history of tourism collection are particularly noteworthy for their extensive archival material. Furthermore, microfilm material has also been obtained on numerous other themes. The microfilm collection includes material, for example, about the Second World War, World Exhibitions, the Baltic Sea region, the Third Reich, the United States and India.
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