Department of European Ethnology

European Ethnology researches, interprets and understands multifaceted societal phenomena and the various changes associated with them. The field’s research areas include for example the forms of immaterial and material cultural heritage, questions related to multiculturality and minority groups, as well as climate and environmental change as they are experienced by local populations. The field’s key area of interest is human beings as part of some phenomenon, activity or interactive relationship. Chronologically, the perspectives utilised in this type of the research range from history to the present and to the future. 

European Ethnology highlights various local and global perspectives. Cultural phenomena are seen as part of a wider European cultural heritage context. European Ethnology is a very internationally oriented field, and this is most evident in its wide-ranging and active exchange relationships and international research projects. European ethnologists possess a strong understanding of the background factors and developments related to everyday phenomena, which provides them with the expertise to participate in societal discussions and public planning activities.