Susanne is a PhD and Adjunct Professor (Docent) at the University of Helsinki and acts as the Director of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East, based in Beirut. Since her early studies in Anthropology, she has focused on Southern Yemen where her interest has been on social dynamics, public moralities, politics and law. Her PhD dissertation Contesting Realities. Public Sphere and Morality in Southern Yemen was published in 2010 by Syracuse University Press. Susanne has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in southern part of Yemen since the 1980s and published her work in academic journals on law, society and anthropology as well as in edited volumes. She has specialized in Islamic law and edited among others, Special issue on Gender and Judging in Muslim Courts: Emerging Scholarship and Debates for the journal Hawwa (with Monika Lindbekk, 2020). Her textbook Changing Middle East as the multipolar world order emerges, written together with M. Lohikoski contextualizes current conflicts in the Middle East to the background of Gaza war (Atena 2025, in Finnish). Full list of her publications is available here.

Venla is an intern at the Finnish Institute in the Middle East. She began her internship in Beirut at the beginning of the year. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Politics and Theology at the University of Helsinki. In her studies, she has focused on Peace and Conflict Studies, as well as the cultures, religions, and politics of the Levant and the Horn of Africa. Currently, she is writing her Master’s thesis on gendered violence in the Shatila refugee camp, using feminist structural approaches.

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