Maija Könönen holds a Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki, in Finland and an MSc in Economics from the Turku School of Economics, in Finland. She is currently a professor of Russian Cultural Studies at the University of Eastern Finland, in Joensuu, Finland
Research interests: Madness and rationality in Russian literature and culture, (especially ”holy foolishness” and ”dementia”); space in Russian culture; St. Petersburg in Russian literature (Joseph Brodsky, Elena Shvarts); Modernism in Russian poetry
Current research projects: Between the Normal and the Abnormal – Cultural Meanings of Dementia and Aging in Finnish and Russian Cultures (project leader)