معرفی
Pasi Väliaho is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Humanities. His research sits at the intersection of art history, media theory, and epistemology, exploring how visual media shape knowledge, power, and economic systems across historical periods. He is a key member of the Visual Studies research group and the Screen Cultures research initiative at UiO.
His academic background includes a doctorate from the University of Turku, Finland, where he also holds the title of Docent in Media History and Theory. Prior to joining the University of Oslo, he served as Reader in Film and Screen Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. His educational path reflects a strong foundation in European media and art history.
Väliaho’s research focuses on the historical and political dimensions of visual culture, particularly how optical media, cinema, and digital technologies intersect with epistemic shifts, colonialism, and neoliberal capitalism. He examines topics such as camera obscuras, magic lanterns, military drones, video games, and deep-sea visualization, analyzing how images function as instruments of knowledge, governance, and capital. His work is deeply interdisciplinary, drawing from philosophy, science studies, and critical theory.
The trends in his recent publications reveal a sustained engagement with the materiality and politics of images—from early modern optical devices to contemporary data-driven visualizations. His scholarship consistently links historical media forms with current digital and neuroscientific developments, emphasizing continuity in how vision is instrumentalized for power and control. Themes of embodiment, affect, biopolitics, and speculative economies recur across his work.
- 2023 Limina Award for the Best International Book in Film Studies (for Projecting Spirits)
- Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015 (for Biopolitical Screens)
Väliaho actively supervises doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, including Rasmus Rodineliussen, William Wessel Nore, and Nanna Lenander. He is currently co-leading the Research Council of Norway-funded project 'Visualizing the Deep Sea in the Age of Climate Change' (2023–2027), which explores the political ecology of oceanic imaging. His teaching includes courses such as 'Archaeology of the Moving Image' and 'Philosophies of the Image,' reflecting his broad theoretical and historical expertise.
He is embedded in collaborative research environments, notably the Visual Studies group at IFIKK and the international Screen Cultures initiative, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on media, aesthetics, and epistemology.
