IFUSCO XXIV

IFUSCO XXIV – 14th May to 18th May 2008 in Helsinki

The 24th International Finno-Ugric Students’ Conference (IFUSCO) will take place in Helsinki from 14th to 18th of May, address: Franzéninkatu 13, 00500 Helsinki.

IFUSCO is the most important student conference in the field of Finno-Ugric languages and cultures and it is a great opportunity to meet students active in the same field, to discuss topics related to the research of Finno-Ugric languages and cultures as well as to get a better view of the current issues in the field of Finno-Ugristics in the rest of the world.

The programme of IFUSCO consists of two conference days and one excursion day. Besides that there will be cultural programme in the evenings. In the conference we try to bring the focus on discussion and interaction between the participants. The day programme consists of four parts: 1) the Scientific workshops, 2) the Literature workshop, 3) the Project workshops and 4) the Information fair. We expect each participant to give a short presentation in at least one of the four workshops and to send the materials for the presentation to the organisers on the 21th of April at the latest. Additional information on the workshops can be found on the following page as well as on the conference website, www.ifusco.info. The website will also be used to host abstracts and other material pertaining to the presentations.

Conference schedule
Wednesday 14/5: Participants arrive in Helsinki
Thursday 15/5: Conference opening and workshops
Friday 16/5: Workshops
You can find the bands here: http://www.ifusco.info/fi/node/416
Saturday 17/5: Excursion day
Sunday 18/5: Participants leave

We strive to organise accommodation at home for all students participating in the conference.
The conference fee is 50 euros (20 euros for citizens of Russia). This covers the programme, travel within Helsinki, excursions and food and drink on conference days.

Registration for the conference is until the 7th of April on the website www.ifusco.info. On this page you will also find any up to date information about the conference and Helsinki. The organisers can also be contacted by email at ifusco2008@ifusco.info.

See you in Helsinki!

IFUSCO XXIV is being organised by the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY), Sukukansojen ystävät ry and the students’ association for Finno-Ugric languages, Siula ry in cooperation with the Finno-Ugric department of the University of Helsinki.

We expect all conference participants to give a presentation in at least one of the conference workshops. The following workshops will be organised:

1. Scientific workshops. The presentation can be held on a subject pertaining to linguistics, ethnography, social science, study of religion, history or archaeology. The presentations should take approx. 15 minutes and preferably contain audiovisual aids, such as pictures, sound or Powerpoint-presentations. This is to enable everyone to follow the main points of the presentation. Participants are asked to send the audiovisual material as well as an abstract no longer than 2000 characters through www.ifusco.info by 21/4. The presentation and the abstract should be in different languages, of which at least one is a Finno-Ugric language.

2. Literature workshop. The literature workshop concentrates on the contemporary literature of Finno-Ugric minorities and its translation. The winners of the Mafun literature contest are asked to tell about what they have written in their own mother tongue. Other participants can tell about their own literal production in some Finno-Ugric language, translation to or from a minority language or about a contemporary author writing in a minority language. As well as presentations of approximately 15 minutes, we expect general discussion to take place and possibly translation as group work. We ask the participants to send their own texts and/or translations as well as a short (max. 2000 characters) abstract about themselves as writers or about the writer about whom they are going to tell by 21/4 through www.ifusco.info. The presentation and the abstract should be in different languages, of which at least one is a Finno-Ugric language.

3. Project workshop. The project workshop is for planning small-scale Finno-Ugric projects. We will have presentations by Finnish friendship organisations and other possible partners. Here it is possible to develop own project plans with people experienced in project work. Discussion will take place about aspects to take into account and which problems will have to be solved in the planning and execution of a project. It will be possible to share experiences and find possible partners.
The project can be planned alone or in a group. The participant or the participating group is to send a concept of the project (idea, target group, groups carrying out the project, time and place) through www.ifusco.info by 21/4.

4. Info fair. The info fair’s purpose is to offer the participants up to date information about the scientific world of Finno-Ugristics and to develop possibilities for cooperation. The participants give a 15-minute presentation about the activity of their own department. The following topics could be discussed:
- The fields of research at the department and the methods used.
- Activity at the department, what kind of experts are present, the current projects, what are the plans for the near future.
- How to get there to study or do research, what the department publishes, how to contact the department.
The presentation should deal with the current state of affairs. It should be compact, informative and it should contain audiovisual aids, such as pictures, sound or Powerpoint-presentations. The presentation can be held alone or in a group, or it can be carried out as a wall poster. The information is to be sent by 21/4 to www.ifusco.info. The information packages will be published on the Ifusco website for further reference. The presentations are preferably in a Finno-Ugric language.