Frans Mäyrä
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fransmayra.bsky.social
Frans Mäyrä
@fransmayra.bsky.social
A professor, Tampere University, Finland. Nature photographer. Fan of fantasy, science fiction, new media and old ideas.

www.unet.fi
www.fransmayra.fi (personal blog)
Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research, new issue 2/2025 is out: fafnir.journal.fi/issue/view/1...
Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Vol. 12 No. 2/2025 (2025)
fafnir.journal.fi
February 12, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Portin tilaus/Tampereen SF-seuraan liittymislinkki: www.porttisci.fi/index.php?si...
PORTTI Science Fiction - lehti science fictionin ja fantasian ystäville
www.porttisci.fi
February 12, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Kannustan kaikkia scifin, fantasian ja pelikulttuurin yhtymäkohdista kiinnostuneita tutustumaan Markku Soikkelin laajaan artikkeliin Portti-lehden numerossa 4/2025. Portti on muutenkin hieno kulttuurilehti (joka toimii nykyään täysin ilman valtion kulttuurilehtitukea), tilauslinkki kommentissa.
February 12, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Historian siipien havinaa luokkahuoneessa. Mm. Juice Leskinen opiskeli 70-luvun alussa Tampereen kieli-instituutissa. Instituutit sulautettiin Tampereen yliopistoon vuonna 1981. 80-luvun jatkojohdosta riittää virtaa vielä näin uudelle vuosituhannellekin.
February 10, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Frans Mäyrä
We have published our first report on larp festivals and conventions, explaining the foundations of the work we are doing in Larpocracy: Larp Festivals as Democratic Spaces.

zenodo.org/records/1841...
Larp Festivals as Democratic Spaces
This report is the first deliverable from Work Package 5: Design of Spaces for Human Encounter in the Horizon Europe funded research project Larpocracy. It lays the foundations for our research on lar...
zenodo.org
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Kiitoksia - kylmäähän tuolla on, mutta kaunista. 😊❄️🦉
February 8, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Frans Mäyrä
🇫🇮 Meta sulki Digitaalinen itsenäisyys -aloitteen Threads-tilin. Mitä seuraavaksi? 🤔

Kansalaisaloitteemme, joka ajaa digitaalista itsenäisyyttä, sai juuri karun esimerkin siitä, mitä riippuvuus ulkomaisista alustoista tarkoittaa.

#DigitaalinenItsenäisyys #Meta #Threads #Sananvapaus #Suomi

1/
February 6, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Lauantain talvisissa lintukuvissa: viirupöllö (Ural owl) ja varpuspöllöt (Eurasian pygmy owl). Pöllöjä kuvattu matkan päästä 800mm:n teleobjektiivilla. #luontokuvaus #naturephotography #linnut #birds #pöllöt #owls
February 8, 2026 at 6:53 AM
Perjantain petolintu: kanahaukka. #luontokuvaus #naturephotography
February 6, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Kiitos - ja totta: tuossa on kyllä maisemallisuutta, ainakin kun hieman silmiä siristää. :-)
January 26, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Kiitos - aika hankala oli huomata tuolta, kannon sisästä ja lumen alta. :-)
January 25, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Viikonlopun luontokuvia: lehtopöllö, lumisessa pesässään. (Strix aluco / Tawny Owl.) #luontokuvaus #naturephotography
January 25, 2026 at 6:49 PM
I delivered again today my "Textual Analysis and Interpretation of Games" guest lecture in the methodology course. I emphasised eg the methodological freedom in our field and productive and even subversive potentials in employing multiple analytical perspectives. Thanks for the invite and interest!
January 21, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Kiitos! Vähän sääliksi käy aina kun hienoja eläimiä pidetään eläintarhoissa, mutta sillä on toki oma roolinsa myös suojelutyössä.
January 16, 2026 at 9:14 AM
A collage of my black and white photography, from over the years. I like to visit parks, zoos, castles, libraries and museums, when I have a chance.
January 16, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Frans Mäyrä
Our PEGASUS project team investigated how different types of (digital) game cultural organisations in Finland understand DEI in their own activities, and what kind of guidelines and practices they have for promoting DEI. The publication is openly available: revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/ij... 1/7
‘Cornerstones for Creativity and Success’ | The International Journal of Games and Social Impact
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are value-based principles that are widely utilised in building more socially and culturally sustainable environments that are experienced as welcoming and fair for all – also in diverse game cultural contexts. In this study, we investigate how different types of game cultural organisations in Finland understand DEI in the context of their own activities, and what kind of guidelines and practices they have for promoting DEI. The results are based on a reflexive content analysis on 18 public DEI documents from 11 Finnish game cultural organisations focusing on digital games and gaming. Based on our analysis, it seems that Finnish game cultural organisations view DEI as a pathway for their continuous success as well as for building better game culture for everyone. The examined organisations were actively expressing their commitment to promoting DEI both by working to prevent discrimination and harassment and by utilising practices to build safer and more inclusive environments. However, it was not always clear if these organisations had set specific goals for their DEI work and if they were following their progress in this area. Importantly, our investigation illustrates that a wide range of different types of organisations can contribute to the cultural ecosystem in which digital games are created, consumed, and utilised in various ways, and that inspecting this variety of organisations operating on different sectors of game culture may reveal more widely shared cultural values and practices within this environment.
revistas.ulusofona.pt
January 15, 2026 at 2:19 PM
"Events and Communities", the 22nd Annual Tampere University Game Research Lab Spring Seminar, 5-6 May, 2026: the abstract submission deadline has been extended until 21 January 2026. See the CFP: springseminar.org/2026-call-fo...
2026 | Call for Papers
Events are at the heart of game and play cultures. They are organized for many reasons and purposes, bringing people together to play, socialize, compete, learn and teach, network, sell, perform, c…
springseminar.org
January 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM
This in Turku: Assistant/associate professor of Digital cultural heritage (tenure track).

ats.talentadore.com/apply/digita...
Assistant/Associate Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage (tenure track)
The University of Turku, Faculty of Humanities, invites applications for the position of Assistant or Associate Professor (tenure track) in Digital Cultural Heritage. The employment will begin by agre...
ats.talentadore.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Frans Mäyrä
Eludamos has a new CFP for a Special issue: New Perspectives on Men and Masculinity in Gaming

Eludamos invites scholars in game studies and beyond to submit full papers for a special issue on men and masculinity in gaming, with deadline March 15, 2026.
January 7, 2026 at 3:10 PM
A freezing soap bubble experiment. #photography #winter
January 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
One should note, though, that both novels end in some kind of romantic affirmation of love and life's meaningfulness. (5/4...)
January 6, 2026 at 7:55 AM
One could take the Lodge's 1980s satirical, (largely Anglo-American, male-centred and women-chasing) romance and contrast it what Kuang has done, while exploring the misogynism, exploitation and unhealthy self-sacrifice of the fictional 1980s university life. (4/4)
January 6, 2026 at 7:54 AM
"Katabasis" is - as the name says - a "journey into underworld" novel, which reworks elements from Orfeus, Odysseus, Dante's "Divine Comedy", etc., starting from the premise "university is hell". There is a nice comparative study waiting to be written here. (3/4)
January 6, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Books with academic settings are very conductive for meta-literary, self-reflective and theory-inspired narrative devices. "Small World" was basically a romance that commented on the various conventions and theories of romances. (2/4)
January 6, 2026 at 7:52 AM
While reading "Katabasis" by R. F. Kuang during this vacation, I was reminded of David Lodge's "Small World" (1984), another university novel, and one that I read at the time when I started my studies of comparative literature. (1/4)
January 6, 2026 at 7:52 AM