Renowned Lecturer To Examine Finland’s Independence

HANCOCK — How was a small, country in a remote corner of the Russian empire able to gain independence without being crushed? And more importantly, how was Finland able to remain independent in spite of many challenges?

These questions, and many others, will be answered at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 11, when Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year Sharon Franklin-Rahkonen offers a presentation on “The History of Finnish Independence” at Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center.

Sponsored by the City of Hancock’s Finnish Theme Committee — a Finlandia Foundation chapter — this presentation is one of the final events of Festival Ruska, which is the university’s newest festival, designed to celebrate the fall color season (Ruska, in Finnish) with a variety of cultural programming.

Franklin-Rahkonen is an associate professor of history at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches several courses including a senior capstone course on the Nordic countries. She’s a member of the FinnFest USA board and Finlandia University’s Finnish Council in America.

For more information about this presentation, call (906) 487-7549.