After the course the student will be familiar with the outline of Finnish history and its context in European and global history. The student is able to describe in general terms the historical change of the area.

The course topics will emphasize comparative perspective of Finnish history in its Northern, Scandinavian, Baltic and European context from the early modern period to contemporary EU-Finland. Special emphasis will be given to versatile course materials (lectures, reading materials, videos, news articles, museum tips, websites etc.), taking into account the students’ competence in English and former knowledge in the topics. Discussions during the lectures will check the students’ understanding of the topics and challenge their critical thinking on history, whereas the learning diary (c. 8–10 pages) will encourage the students to study further their chosen topic/period within the course outline. The topics for learning diaries will be agreed with the teacher and each student will get personal supervision and feedback on their paper.

Lectures, learning diary

Lecture 1: Introduction to course and the beginnings of Finnish history.

2. Finland and the Swedish realm during the early modern period, c. 1520–1809.

3. Finland as part of the Russian Empire, 1809–1917.

4. Building the Finnish state system and independence, 1905–1930s.

5. Foreign policy of independent Finland.

6. (Re-) building the state: Finnish politics and society after the WWII.

7. Multicultural Finland and Finns abroad.

8. Final discussion and presentation of learning diaries.