Anna Rantasila

Background

About Anna Rantasila

I'm Doctor of Social Sciences, currently working as a university lecturer at the newly minted degree program for social sciences and communication at LUT University School of Engineering Science in Lappeenranta, Finland. My dissertation Circulating Emotions, Sticky Feelings. Affective dynamics of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in a hybrid media environment focuses on the affect and emotions of the news coverage and social media commentary of Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Finland and abroad. Before joining LUT, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at department of computer science in Faculty of Information technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University in an Academy of Finland funded project called EmoDim. My research interests include interplay between newer and older forms of media and technology, dynamics of social media conversations and communities, and influence of various technological affordances to our everyday life, emotional expression in particular. I have previously worked as a versatile journalist specializing in foreign affairs and economics, especially concerning Japan and East Asia. I have experience in both print and online journalism, writing, editing and copy editing. Based in Helsinki, Finland. Has spacesuit, will travel.