Mirva Johnson

Area(s) of Study: Finnish America. Heritage language linguistics. Cultural change. Language shift. Public Folklore. Nordic migration.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

About Me: I am a PhD candidate researching and conducting fieldwork on the Finnish of heritage speakers in North America. My research interests lie at the intersection of linguistics and folklore, namely in how language and culture interact and shift from ethnic to local. My work is primarily with Finnish-American communities, though my research also spans heritage language linguistics, migration, and cultural maintenance.

Website: https://mirvajohnson.wordpress.com

Education:

– University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA in Scandinavian Area Studies (2018)
– The College of William and Mary, BA in Linguistics and History (2014)

Courses Taught:

– SCAN ST 131: First Semester Finnish (Fall 2015)
– FOLKLORE 444 / LIT TRANS 347: Kalevala and Finnish Folklore (Spring 2016)
– SCAN ST 112: First Semester Swedish (Fall 2017, Fall 2018)
– SCAN ST 212: Second Semester Swedish (Spring 2018, Spring 2019)
– GNS 200: Folklore of Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe (Fall 2019)

Awards:

• Best in Show Prize for documentary film “The Oulu Cultural and Heritage Center,” UW–Madison Digital Salon (2019)
• HEX Public Humanities Exchange Grant, UW–Madison Center for the Humanities (2019)
• Finlandia Foundation National Scholarship Award (2019)
• FLAS Fellowship for Summer Study to Finland (2016)
• Research Travel Award, UW–Madison Graduate School (2016)

Selected Publications:

• Johnson, M. (2020). Book Review, Heritage Languages: A language contact approach by Suzanne Aalberse, Ad Backus and Pieter Muysken. Heritage Language Journal 17(2).
• with Jessica Becker and the Wisconsin Humanities Council. (2019). “Immigrant Journeys from South of the Border:¡Mi travesía hasta Wisconsin!” Website.
• Johnson, M. (2018). “The Oulu Cultural and Heritage Center.” Film.
• Johnson, M. (2018). “Language Shift and Changes in Community Structure: A Case Study of Oulu, Wisconsin.” Scandinavian-Canadian Studies Journal. Ed. Marit Ann Barkve. “Migration, Exile, and Diaspora in the Nordic Region.” 25(1), 30-49.
• Johnson, M. (2017). Book Review, Muisteltu ja kirjoitettu evakkomatka: Tutkimus evakkolapsuuden muistelukerronnan poetiikasta [The remembered and written evacuation journey: Study of the poetics of childhood evacuee reminiscence writing] by Ulla Savolainen. Journal of Finnish Studies 20(2).