Sanna Karkulehto is Professor of Literature at the University of Jyväskylä and the School of Resource Wisdom (JYU.Wisdom). She also holds the title of Docent in Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Oulu and in Gender Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland. She earned her PhD in Literature at the University of Oulu. Previously, she has worked as Lecturer in Film Studies, Senior Lecturer in Literature, and Professor of Literature at the University of Oulu.
Karkulehto has held visiting professorships and fellowships at the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Rice University, Houston, TX (USA); Gender Studies at Central European University, Budapest (Hungary and Austria); and the Posthumanities Hub at Linköping University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment), Stockholm (Sweden). She has also undertaken shorter research visits to the University of Melbourne (Australia), Utrecht University (Netherlands), University of Washington, Seattle (USA), and University of California, Berkeley (USA).
In her research, Karkulehto examines literature in relation to contemporary culture, media, and society. She specializes in ethical and political questions concerning diversity, difference, otherness, and power in contemporary literature, culture, and society. Her recent research interests include gender-based violence studies—where the projects she has led have been funded by the Research Council of Finland, the Kone Foundation, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation—as well as environmental humanities, human–animal studies, sustainability studies, feminist posthumanities, and planetary well-being. She currently leads the Kone Foundation funded project Kynä, jolla kirjoitan, on kaadettu puu. Kotimaisen nykykirjallisuuden tuottama tieto metsistä ja metsäsuhteista osana metsäkulttuurista kestävyysmurrosta - Koneen Säätiö.
Her co-edited works include, e.g.,
The monograph Seksin mediamarkkinat (Gaudeamus) was published in 2011.
Karkulehto serves as Societal Impact Director of JYU.Wisdom - School of Resource Wisdom | University of Jyväskylä and is Editor-in-Chief of Wisdom Letters–Towards Planetary Well-being.
