First NARS Conference

The Center of Excellence in Nationalism Research in the Humanities NARS (2026–2033), led by the Finnish Literature Society and funded by the Research Council of Finland, examines nationalism as a complex human phenomenon whose content, meanings, and intensity vary over time. We do not approach nationalism so much as a political ideology but rather analyze its practical manifestations and effects on the lives of different groups of people.

The research conducted by NARS emphasizes collaboration between historical research and cultural memory studies, with a particular focus on exploring the long-term processes and layers of the nation as a lived and remembered experience the lived and remembered national experience. We combine humanistic research with, among other things, social sciences and area studies research on nationalism. NARS consists of four subprojects at the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), University of Helsinki, Tampere University, and Åbo Akademi University.