Taidepiste: Art, science and trolls

Does hate speech undermine the autonomy of universities? This January, the topic will be discussed at Taidepiste by e.g. Minja Koskela and Johanna Vehkoo.

What kind of an impact does hate speech have on research, art-making and teaching? Why do trolls focus their criticism on the humanities and research in the fields of arts, in particular? What can an individual researcher do when they get verbally attacked and what kind of support should the university give them?

These questions will be addressed by researcher, music teacher and city councillor Minja Koskela, historian Oula Silvennoinen, head of publications at the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies Sami Syrjämäki and journalist Johanna Vehkoo. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Mikko Pelttari.

Due to the COVID situation, the event will be organised without a live audience. The discussion can be watched live on Uniarts Helsinki’s YouTube channel. High-quality recordings of the Taidepiste events are also available for later viewing on Youtube.

Taidepiste is Uniarts Helsinki’s event series, which explores social phenomena through multidisciplinary discussions and art experiences that are free and open to the public. Taidepiste events are organised once a month in the Main Foyer of the Helsinki Music Centre and live streamed on Uniarts Helsinki’s YouTube channel. High-quality recordings of the Taidepiste events are also available for later viewing on YouTube. The event series is sponsored by the Louise and Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation. Read more about the Taidepiste event series.

More information about the guests

Minja Koskela is an author, a member of Helsinki city council and a doctoral researcher in Uniarts Helsinki. She has participated in public discourse about equality and hate speech.

Oula Silvennoinen is a docent of European History and an academy research fellow in the University of Helsinki. His research topics include the history of Holocaust, genocide, European fascism and radical nationalism.

Sami Syrjämäki is a Doctor of Philosophy and the publishing manager in The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. Before his current position, Syrjämäki was employed by the University of Helsinki. He has also been active in Eurooppalaisen filosofian seura.

Johanna Vehkoo is a journalist and a non-fiction writer, who has published five books. Her most recent book is called Oikeusjuttu (Kosmos, 2021). Vehkoo is one of the founders of Long Play, a digital publisher of longform investigative journalism. She also writes a series of articles called Valheenpaljastaja for the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Mikko Pelttari is a free-lance journalist and writer.

Time

25.1.2022 at 17:30 – 18:30

Location

The event will be organised without live audience and streamed on Youtube.

Tickets

The Taidepiste events are free to attend and open to everyone.