Lina Klymenko

I am a Researcher in the Politics Programme (International Relations) at Tampere University and an Adjunct Professor (Docent) at the Karelian Institute at the University of Eastern Finland.

Education

• Adjunct Professorship (Docentship / Habilitation), 2016, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland
• PhD in Political Science, 2006–2009, University of Vienna, Austria
• MA in Germanic Studies, 2001–2003, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
• Diploma in German, English, and Comparative Literature (Honours), 1995–2000, Teacher Training University of Poltava, Ukraine

My research on international politics is situated at the intersection of International Relations, History, Sociology, and Linguistics. I am interested in studying memory and identity in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, political language and foreign policy, interpretive research methodology and methods in political science, and teaching and learning politics.

I also enjoy teaching undergraduate and graduate courses within my research areas and developing new techniques of student-centered teaching and learning. I have taught at Tampere University, the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Vienna, Austria. My teaching philosophy is outlined in my peer-reviewed article entitled Involve me, and I will understand: How to Engage Students in Political Science Classes (Austrian Journal of Political Science, vol. 3, pp. 293–304, 2014). The article is based on the constructivist understanding of teaching and learning, where the focus is moved from a teacher-oriented to a student-oriented learning approach. Under this framework, the teacher is considered no longer an authoritative source but acts as a mentor who supports students’ deep learning. The student’s role accordingly changes from a passive listener to an active constructor of knowledge. 

To develop my teaching skills, I participated in the ECPR Summer School on Teaching and Learning Political Science in July 2012 in Piestany, Slovakia. 

I was the principal investigator of the research project Coming to Terms with the Stalinist/Communist Past: What Citizens Think in Georgia, Russia and Ukraine funded by the Academy of Finland in 2014–2017.

I am currently a researcher in the project Cultural Statecraft in International Relations: The Case of Russia funded by the Academy of Finland at Tampere University and led by Prof. Tuomas Forsberg.

I am also currently a researcher in the project Reconstructing Memory in the City: Transnational and Local (European) Sites of Memory funded by the Balzan Prize at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and led by Prof. Aleida Assmann and Prof. Jan Assmann.

Alongside several research papers, I currently work on a book project with working title Narratives and Other Framing Devices: The Language of Memory in Ukraine’s Identity Discourse (Routledge Interventions Series). The book challenges the mainstream International Relations theories by offering a new perspective on the connection between memory and identity in foreign policy discourse. It does this by investigating the role that political language plays in state identity construction. Embedded in the interpretive research tradition and drawing upon interdisciplinary insights, the book investigates commemorative practices of three historical events in post-Soviet Ukraine: (1) the Ukrainian Revolution, (2) the Holodomor, and (3) World War II. It draws on qualitative-interpretive analysis of political statements, policy documents, and media coverage of the main Ukrainian political actors over the past two decades.

Moreover, I currently edit a special issue of the journal International Politics (with Marco Siddi, Finnish Institute of International Affairs). The working title of the special issue is Exploring the Link between Historical Memory and Foreign Policy. It explores how political actors refer to past events in their decision-making processes, and it includes articles on the role of historical analogies and narratives, securitization of memory, and sites of memory in foreign policy making and international politics.

Visiting research and teaching fellowships

• Leibniz Institute for the History & Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), Germany
• Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Canada
• Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, University of Uppsala, Sweden
• Centre for Research and Study in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute, Portugal
• Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbooks Research, Germany
• Centre for the Study of Political Change, University of Siena, Italy
• Department of History, Tbilisi State University, Georgia
• Centre for EU-Russia Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia

ECPR training in research methodology and methods 

• Writing Ethnographic Research
• Issues in Ethnography
• Focus Groups
• Advanced Qualitative Analysis
• Nvivo
• Expert Interviews
• Discourse Analysis
• Content Analysis
• Analyzing Political Language