Save the date: Kari Sajavaara memorial lecture Fri, 15 Jan 2027 at 12pm

Kari Sajavaara memorial lecture Fri, 15 January 2027 at 12 pm – talk by Professor Maria Kuteeva

We kindly invite you to the 17th Kari Sajavaara memorial lecture, held on Fri, 15th January 2027 at 12 pm. The event will take place in the Old Festival Hall (S212), University of Jyväskylä. 

The memorial lecture will be given by Professor Maria Kuteeva (the topic of the lecture will be confirmed later). At the turn of the year, Kuteeva will start as a Professor of Applied Language Studies at the Centre for Applied Language Studies and the Department of Language and Communication Studies (JYU). Currently, she is a Professor of English linguistics at Stockholm University.  

Two awards bearing the name of Kari Sajavaara will be presented in the memorial lecture: one for an outstanding doctoral dissertation in applied language studies, and the other for work of significant societal impact in the field of languages. 

Coffee will be served after the event. The main languages of the event are English (lecture) and Finnish (award ceremony). 

Further details will be shared, and registration will be opened later.

The Finnish Network for Language Education Policies (Kieliverkosto) organizes Kari Sajavaara memorial lecture annually. The lecture is dedicated to the memory of Professor Kari Sajavaara (1938‒2006), who was a versatile and active researcher and actor in the field of applied language studies and language education policies. After a long career at the Department of English, Sajavaara started as the Head of the Centre for Applied Language Studies. In addition, Sajavaara was an active international networker: he was the Vice President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) between 1993–1996, as well as a co-founder of the European Language Council. Moreover, Sajavaara served as the vice-rector of the University of Jyväskylä (1982–1991), and as the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (1996–2002). He retired in 2003.