Dr Johanna Turunen (she/her) works as a senior researcher in Contemporary Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has been a visiting scholar at the Aarhus University in Denmark and University of Antwerp, Belgium. She also holds the title of docent in critical heritage studies at the University of Eastern Finland.
Her research focuses on the societal agency of museums and the intersection of critical heritage studies, museology, decoloniality, and transformative learning.
She is currently leading the Uncomfortable Museum project (Kone Foundation 2023-2027).
My research builds on the connections between critical heritage studies and post- and decolonial theory. My work covers topics such as the decolonization of museums and heritage; heritage activism; heritage diplomacy; identity politics and belonging; heritagization of European colonialism and slavery; and EU cultural heritage politics.
