A Centre of Excellence
The Finnish Studies Department at the University of Toronto has the largest, most comprehensive program dedicated to the study of Finnish language and culture in North America.
Help us to keep it strong for generations to come.
Our Fundraising Goal
The goal of CFFEF fundraising efforts is to raise funds to support the teaching of Finnish Studies.
The video below was made for our 2015 crowdfunding campaign (more info here). Though that specific campaign was only for one month, most of the content of this video is still very relevant today. Watch it to learn more about Finnish Studies at the U of T, and why it’s so important to preserve it.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Spring 2022 FundRazr campaign. With your help, we raised almost $13,000!
Click the campaign box for details:
Finnish Studies at the U of T Today
Finnish Language & Culture
From the Finnish Studies website: A nation of five million people, Finland is situated between West and East, between Sweden and Russia, sharing for thousands of years religious, historical, political, social, and cultural influences and experiences with its neighbours and the different worlds they represent.
Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language related to Estonian and Hungarian, is spoken by 94% of Finland’s population, by 300,000 in Sweden, and by large numbers in Canada, the United States, and other countries…. The Finns have a strong commitment to their languages and to their culture. Their national epic, the Kalevala, compiled in the 19th century from old Finnish epic narrative poems and incantations, soon became a national symbol and continues to this day to inspire the growth and development of the country’s creative force….
Finnish studies at the University of Toronto are presently engaged in teaching the Finnish language – a three-year sequence – and in offering other courses on the literature and culture of Finland.