Vuokko Hirvonen (born 1955) is an author and professor emeritus of Sámi literature and school research at

Sámi University of Applied Sciences Sámi University of Applied Sciences ( se, Sámi allaskuvla, no, Samisk høgskole) is a university that is located in the village of Kautokeino in Kautokeino Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. It was established in 1989 and has about 20 ...

. She has written extensively about Sámi women's literature and Sámi teacher education.

Early life and education

Hirvonen is a Finnish citizen and grew up in Ohcejohka, Finland. Her mother was Sámi and her father Finnish, and Finnish was the language used in her home and much of her education. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the

University of Tampere The University of Tampere (UTA) ( fi, Tampereen yliopisto (Tay), ) was a public university in Tampere, Finland that was merged with Tampere University of Technology to create the new Tampere University on 1 January 2019. The university offered un ...

in 1979 and worked with local youth in Utsjoki/Ohcejohka before returning to school to study Sámi language and literature at the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...

and the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

, earning her master's degree from University of Oulu in 1991. She started working at Sámi University in 1990 and was made an associated professor there in 1993. In 1999, she defended her doctoral dissertation on Sámi women's literature at the

. ''Sámeeatnama jienat: Sápmelaš nissona bálggis girječállin'' / ''Saamenmaan ääniä: Saamelaisen naisen tie kirjailijaksi'' (Voices from Sápmi: Sámi Women's Path to Authorship) was published in both

Northern Sámi Northern or North Sámi ( ; se, davvisámegiella ; fi, pohjoissaame ; no, nordsamisk; sv, nordsamiska; disapproved exonym Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely spoken of all Sámi languages. The area where Northern Sámi is spoken covers the ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and is notable for being the first dissertation written in a Sámi language in Finland.

Academic work

In 2007, Hirvonen returned to Sámi University as a professor of Sámi literature. She also focused her research on ethics and education. In 2019, the

University of Umeå A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

awarded Hirvonen an honorary doctorate for her significant contributions toward international cooperation in educational research and for bringing the Sámi perspective to indigenous studies, gender studies and post-colonial studies. Hirvonen also served as a project manager for the

Research Council of Norway The Research Council (also the Research Council of Norway; no, Norges forskningsråd) is a Norwegian government agency that funds research and innovation projects. On behalf of the Government, the Research Council invests NOK 11,9 billion (2021) ...

’s effort to evaluate the comprehensive school reform initiative implemented in July 1997. Hirvonen credited the effort for developing a curricula for Sámi-language instruction; however, she was also critical of the resources provided to ensure true bilingual education in Norwegian and Sámi languages. In 2017, Hirvonen worked with Kaija Anttonen to translate and publish Sámi-language texts from Finland's first Sámi writer,

Pedar Jalvi Pedar Jalvi or Peđar Jalvi (10 April 1888 – 8 August 1916) was Finland's first Sámi writer and has been called the principal figure of Sámi literature. He attended the Jyväskylä Teachers College, from which he graduated in 1915. While he w ...

, into Finnish along with a biography of Jalvi.

References

Links

Professor Vuokko Hirvonen is the University of Oulu’s Alumna of the Year 2020
University of Oulu, accessed 2021-05-24 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirvonen, Vuokko 1955 births Living people Finnish Sámi people Finnish women academics People from Utsjoki University of Oulu alumni Academic staff of the Sámi University of Applied Sciences