BGHRA Conference Archive · Presenter
Rose Marie Äikäs
Life histories · Finland · BGHRA 2013
Rose Marie Äikäs
“Avoin Kirja (Open Book)” — Black Finnish experience in conversation with Black German histories.
Scholar, educator & life-history contributor
A native of Helsinki, Finland, Dr. Rose Marie Äikäs brings interests in Afro-Scandinavian experience, social work, criminal justice and comparative prison studies to her work. She is an Associate Professor in Social Sciences at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York.
Watch her BGHRA panelExplore the Finland research →“Avoin Kirja (Open Book)”
Äikäs contributed to the Life Histories panel at Black Germans in Diaspora, BGHRA’s 2013 conference at Amherst College. Her presentation appears in the published program for August 10, 2013, 4–6 p.m.
In “Black Germans: Coming Home to Self and Community,” Rosemarie H. Peña recalls Äikäs sharing her experience of growing up in an orphanage in postwar Finland. Her contribution opens a conversation about Black European childhoods, institutional care, family relationships and belonging across national borders.
From the BGHRA video archive
Watch the Life Histories panel
Watch the full panel on YouTube ↗
Moderated by Carmen Geschke, with Marion Kraft, Gisella Thomas, Rose Marie Äikäs and Obenewaa Oduro-Opuni.
Education & research
Äikäs earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, an M.S.W. at the Jane Addams College of Social Work, and a B.A. in Criminal Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Her BGHRA presenter biography records research interests in Afro-Scandinavian experience, correctional mental health, comparative global prison studies, and legal and regulatory barriers faced by formerly incarcerated people worldwide. The original conference biography described her appointment as Assistant Professor; Queensborough’s faculty directory now lists her as Associate Professor.
Sources & further reading
- Queensborough Community College faculty directory — appointment and education.
- BGHRA 2013 conference program — presentation title, panel and schedule.
- Rosemarie H. Peña, “Black Germans: Coming Home to Self and Community,” in Silke Hackenesch, ed., Adoption across Race and Nation: US Histories and Legacies (Ohio State University Press, 2022), pp. 174–192, especially p. 189. Read the open-access book.
Finland: Black childhood, care & belonging → · BGHRA 2013 conference →