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Tallinn University's Competence Centre of Cultural Psychology

The aim of the Centre of Competence is to create a fundamental internationally integrated knowledge base about cultural psychology as the most rapidly growing field in psychology and  in society in general. We intend to provide basic research education at a higher level of academic excellence, as well as information about cultural psychology to people from different educational and interdisciplinary backgrounds in the field of social, educational, and health sciences. The Centre is an integral part of Tallinn University’s psychology and behavioural science stream of investigations within the School of Natural Sciences and Health.

What is cultural psychology? It can be expressed in eight statements:

  • Cultural psychology is a new synthesis of knowledge at the borders of developmental and social psychology, semiotics, cultural history, and philosophy. 
  • It is based on the European tradition of Naturphilosophie, Völkerpsychologie, and phenomenology. 
  • Cultural Psychology in its contemporary version has emerged since the 1990s. 
  • Cultural psychology looks at human psyche starting from the highest forms of cultural inventions—art, music, literature. 
  • Its methodology is qualitative in its nature, with focus on introspection, autoethnography, and microgenesis. 
  • Cultural psychology is axiomatically based on the framework of open systems that focus on exchange relations of organism with environment. 
  • Methodological basis of cultural psychology is structural-systemic epistemological approach. 
  • It derives general knowledge from systemically analyzed single cases In its Estonian academic history it derives from the work of Juri Lotman and Peeter Tulviste.

Contacts

General Leadership

  • Jaan Valsiner, president, Aalborg University (Denmark), Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität (Ljubljana-Wien), Universidade Federal do Bahia, Brazil, and Tallinn University
  • Katrin Kullasepp, vice-president, Tallinn University

Topical Leadership

​Tallinn University, ​​​​​​Academic staff

(will be updated)

Affiliated Partners and Institutions 

 

 

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PhD students and Collaborators

  • Julie Bo Christensen Lindgren, PhD student, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University
  • Simone Indius, PhD student, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University

  • Annela Samuel, PhD student, School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University

  • Arno Baltin, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University

  • Jennifer L. Sigurddatter, PhD student, School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University

(will be updated)

Research Directions

  • Identity construction, professional identity of psychologist and teachers (Katrin Kullasepp)
  • Artists as creators of culture (Katrin Kullasepp)  
  • From university to life: development of the professional self in practice (Julie Bo Christensen Lindgren)
  • Meta-Intentionality in Psychotherapy: Understanding Therapist Intentions, Professional Growth, and the Therapeutic Alliance (Simone Indius)

  • Psychosocial development in adulthood, particularly in relation to life-course transitions, work-life balance, and migration (Mariann Märtsin)

  • Post-Soviet Transition Beyond Liminality: Opportunities for Social Work (Annela Samuel)

  • Cultural Psychology of well-being (Aleksander Pulver)

  • Health Psychology with a particular interest in early childhood health, adolescent mental health, and addictive behaviours  (Kristiina Uriko)

  • Developmental Psychology with a particular interest in parent-infant bonding, parenthood, and developmental transitions (Kristiina Uriko)

  • From Imagination to Reality: Developing Trust Within the Self (Jennifer L. Sigurddatter)

(will be updated)

Publications

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Coming Soon

 

Autumn Seminar (3 - 4 October, 2025)

News

  • Autumn Seminar

    October 3 (2025), the Competence Center of Cultural Psychology was opened at Tallinn University. Its aim is to create an internationally integrated knowledge base for the rapidly developing field of cultural psychology. The center is an integral part of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences study area within the School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University

    According to the president of the center, prof. Jaan Valsiner, the center will establish a new and internationally recognized think tank and serve as a foundation for new ideas that lead to practical solutions. “The creation of this center is an important step for the research directions that have emerged at Tallinn University, which are of world-class quality in the field of cultural psychology,” Valsiner said.

    The center stands out for its high-level research and disseminates knowledge of cultural psychology to students and specialists from various fields, including the social, educational, and health sciences.

    “The opening of the center shows that Tallinn University is a pioneering research institution addressing topics that are both important for society and forward-looking,” said the center’s lead coordinator and Associate Professor of General Psychology, Katrin Kullasepp. “Cultural psychology is more necessary today than ever before, helping us understand how cultural processes shape our thinking and identity,” Kullasepp added.

    Cultural psychology: a bridge between cultural forms and psychology

    Cultural psychology is a discipline situated at the intersection of psychology, semiotics, cultural history, and philosophy. It studies the human mind through the lens of the highest cultural forms—art, music, and literature. The methodology of cultural psychology is qualitative, focusing on self-reflection and systematic analyses of individual cases.

    According to the center’s coordinators, the new competence center is essential for bringing together the university’s existing expertise and long-standing experience. In Estonia’s academic history, the field has strong connections to the work of Juri Lotman and Peeter Tulviste.

    The Competence Center of Cultural Psychology places strong emphasis on international collaboration and brought together researchers from Estonia, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Georgia, Mexico, and Denmark for its inaugural Autumn Seminar.

    “I am especially pleased that colleagues have gathered here from both Europe and farther away, such as Mexico. This reflects the spirit of the new center, which will grow through international cooperation,” said Katrin Kullasepp.

    Translated and edited from the original source: https://www.tlu.ee/uudised/tallinna-ulikoolis-alustas-tood-kultuuripsuh…

  • Jaan Valsiner (2025). Prügi järjepidevus: inimkonna hiilgus ja viletsus. Vikerkaar 7-8, lk. 74-78.

  • Jaan Valsiner (2025). Hingeteaduse järjepidevusest: Eesti psühholoogia lugu. Arvustus. Akadeemia 8, lk. 1508-1512.

  • Interview with Jaan Valsiner ("Sirp", 13.juuni 2025):

https://www.sirp.ee/kultuur-ja-ise-labimurded-kultuuripsuhholoogias/

https://www.sirp.ee/me-loome-kultuuri-ja-selle-kaudu-ka-iseendid/

  • Campill, M. A., Lordelo, L. & Kullasepp, K. (Ed.) (2025). The Symbolic Universes of Art in Society. Representations and Transitions. Springer
This volume explores the dynamic dialogue of art within society from a multitude of perspectives across the world. It highlights art as a process that is interwoven with notions of physical and metaphysical transition and represents a fundamental awareness of how art is represented and shaped through everyday social challenges. The chapters in this volume link the idea of symbolic universes with social practices of art in different societies and through different historical epochs, under the assumption that art leads the development of cultural systems underlying society. The volume looks at art that is shaped by forgotten or/and hidden perspectives. It suggests that art may have crucial, phenomenologically approachable variations that have been misunderstood in the scientific fields. The work considers art and science as complementary, instead of as counterparts/opposing forces.
https://link.springer.com/book/9783031989599
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  • Collaboration with our international partners

In April, the members of the Cultural Psychology Competence Center Jaan Valsiner, Katrin Kullasepp and Kristiina Uriko visited the Universidade Federale da Bahia (Brazil). They participated in the international seminar “VIII International Seminar on Cultural Psychology. Cannibalizing Cultural Psychology”. They also discussed the possibilities of strengthening ties between both universities and carrying out joint international projects.

  • Doctoral candidate Raffaele Modugno (Salerno University, Italy) is visiting the School of Natural Sciences and Health (Psychology and Behavioural Sciences)  from May until October 2025 - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raffaele-Modugno
  • Blended Intensive Program: Culture, Migration, and Identity: Supporting People on the Move

This Blended Intensive Program, organized by Tallinn University in partnership with the University of Oslo and the University of Seville, provides an in-depth exploration of migration, culture, and identity. Grounded in cultural psychology and Dialogical Self Theory, the course examines how migration shapes identities, relationships, and integration processes in diverse sociocultural contexts. The program consists of two components: Virtual Component (March 2025): Online sessions introducing key theories and real migration stories. On-Site Intensive in Tallinn, Estonia (April 7–11, 2025): Five days of immersive learning, including site visits to NGOs, interactive lectures, self-reflective and arts-based exercises, cultural events, and a field trip to Narva to examine migration-related challenges in a border-town context. The program is taught by experts in cultural psychology and migration studies: Mariann Märtsin and Annela Samuel (Tallinn University, Estonia), Guro Brokke Omland (University of Oslo, Norway), and Alicia Español Nogueiro (University of Seville, Spain).For more information: martsin@tlu.ee

  • European Hub for Cultural Psychology established

Cultural Psycholgists across Europe have now a joint online platform for international exchange: The European Hub for Cultural Psychology (https://cultural-psychology-hub.eu/). The hub is a collaborating conglomerate consisting of universities in different European countries carrying out specific emphases within the approach of Cultural Psychology established by Jaan Valsiner. The Centre for Cultural Psychology at AAU is one of the collaborating partners of the hub.Cultural psychologists from 15 countries and 19 universities across Europe are represented in this network. Carolin Demuth is science ambassador for Cultural Psychology in Aalborg. Brady Wagoner is science ambassador for Cultural Psychology in Copenhagen. Jaan Valsiner is science ambassador for Cultural Psychology in Ljubliana. It has worldwide collaboration with a number of universities and associations including division 52 of the American Psychological Association, Ritsumeikan University (Japan), the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology (EQuiP) and the Jaan Valsiner foundation Psychology Beyond Borders.

Last updated 11/26/2025 - 16:03