University of Helsinki
Research area of Cultural and Social Diversities and Intergroup Relations within the Doctoral Program in Social Sciences had a great pleasure to welcome Borja Martinovic to University of Helsinki for a teaching visit in January 2016.
Borja Martinovic is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science (Ercomer) at Utrecht University. She is trained in both sociological and social-psychological research traditions. She completed her PhD in sociology, with the topic of her dissertation being interethnic contacts in Western countries. During her post-doctoral project she examined national identification in the Netherlands among ethnic minorities and native Dutch, as well as ethnic and religious identification of ethnic minorities, and how these affect intergroup relations. Her most recent publications concern questions related to dual identity and political participation of Turkish and Moroccan minorities in the Netherlands.
Borja Martinovic gave two captivating lectures during her visit. The first lecture on “The role of history in present day intergroup relations” was held on Thursday, January 22st and focused on the importance of social representation of history for current intergroup relations and especially on historical claims of territorial ownership. (Read more about the lecture from CEREN-ERI blog here) The second lecture on “Interethnic friends: who is more likely to have them and why” was held on Friday, January 22nd focused on issues including the consequences and prevalence of interethnic contacts.