Irina Novak, Director, Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS
Conference participants were welcomed at the opening by Irina Novak, Director of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS. She noted that this year the Bubrikh Readings are integrated into the International Academic Forum dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Karelian Research Centre RAS.
– The title of this forum, ‘Science Beyond Borders: Interdisciplinary Scientific Cooperation,’ has determined the theme of our work. Over the next two days we will try to showcase how the synergy of different scientific fields helps can provide deeper insights into the history, languages and cultures of our peoples, – noted Irina Novak.
Conference participants. In the foreground: RAS Corresponding Fellow Irma Mullonen and Doctor of Historical Sciences Olga Ilyukha (Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS)
The director of the institute informed that this year the conference organizers received more than sixty applications from both leading Finno-Ugric scholars and early-career researchers from across the country. Scientists from Petrozavodsk, Moscow, St Petersburg, Vologda, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kolomna, Sevastopol, Syktyvkar, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Smolensk and Tver are taking part in the Bubrikh Readings 2026, both in person and online.
– This proves that the conference has become an important pan-Russian platform for discussing current issues of Finno-Ugric studies, – added Irina Novak.
On behalf of the Petrozavodsk State University, the audience was greeted by Tatyana Pashkova, Head of the Department of Balto-Finnic Philology at the PetrSU Institute of Philology.
– The role of Professor Bubrikh in Karelian science can hardly be overrated. He laid the foundations for the systematic study of Finno-Ugric languages at the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History. Studies by the Institute’s scholars are now known worldwide. They have contributed greatly to the study of unique cultural and linguistic traditions. Dmitry Bubrikh has also played a key role in the establishment of Finno-Ugric studies at the Karelian-Finnish State University and was one of the initiators of the Finno-Ugric Department – now the Department of Balto-Finnic Philology, which trains specialists in this field, – reminded Tatyana Pashkova.
The letter of greetings from Sergey Kisilev, Minister of Ethnic and Regional Policy of the Republic of Karelia, was read out by Elena Migunova, Head of the Department for State Support to Indigenous Peoples and Communication with Civic Associations of the Ethnic Policy Administration.
”The Bubrikh Readings conference has for years been a key platform for discussing the most important issues of Finno-Ugric linguistics, ethnoculture and interdisciplinary research in the humanities. The traditions laid down by Dmitry Bubrikh live on in the works of scholars, in new expeditions, dictionaries and atlases, educational projects, and in work with the youth. The national Year of Unity of Peoples especially emphasizes the significance of our common effort. The foundation for the unity of peoples is not erasing differences, but careful preservation of the diversity of languages, traditions and cultural codes, which make our country rich and strong. Science is the solid bedrock on which this unity rests”, – reads the minister’s address.
The plenary session included three lectures. Aisa Bitkeeva, Head of the Research Centre on Ethnic and Language Relations at the Institute of Linguistics RAS (Moscow), presented the new tasks, concepts and methods of modern sociolinguistics. Irina Vinokurova, Head of the Ethnology Section at the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS, delivered a lecture titled “Fasts in the folk Orthodoxy of the Veps (late 19th – early 20th cc.): findings of an interdisciplinary study”. Viktoria Bakula, Associate Professor at the Murmansk Arctic University, talked about the literary works of the Sámi poet Oktyabrina Voronova in the context of the historical and literary phenomenon of the Arctic, with particular emphasis on the philological and methodological aspects.
The conference then broke out into thematic sessions. In the first session, specialists are discussing interdisciplinary approaches in the study of Balto-Finnic and Sámi languages. The second session examines Karelia and adjacent regions in the light of oral tradition and historical documents. On 18 September, the session “Dialogue of Cultures in Northwestern Russia” will join in. The conference will be concluded with a presentation of publications produced by the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS and the Department of Balto-Finnic Philology, Institute of Philology, PetrSU, a recapitulation, and a lecture by Aisa Bitkeeva on “Language in Ethnological Expert Review: Theory and Practice”.
The International Academic Forum “Science Beyond Borders: Interdisciplinary Scientific Cooperation” is held at the Karelian Research Centre RAS on 14–18 September as part of celebrating the organization’s 80th anniversary. It encompasses a suite of major research-to-practice conferences in the natural sciences and humanities. The forum is sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
