Research

My educational background is as a PhD researcher focusing on minority themes. Humans in the past and present, as well as their role in various contexts, have always fascinated me. I ultimately graduated with a PhD in general history from the University of Helsinki in 2016. For my doctoral thesis, I researched the social work carried out by a French Order of nuns called the Daughters of Charity (Les Filles de la Charité) in the 17th century from the perspectives of gender, power, and values.

As a postdoctoral researcher, I’ve written on topics including queer nuns in 17th-century France and lesbian-like women in Finland at the turn of the 20th century. I have also taught and supervised theses. Highlighting the voices of minorities in my research, considering students’ diversity and inclusive learning methods have proven to be key motivators for my work at the university.

(For a more comprehensive account of my research activities, please see the Finnish version of this page here)

You can find a selection of my publications below.

You can find my CV and List of Publications here (updated September 2024)

”Queer and Trans Informed History of Experiences”. Digital Handbook of the History of Experience 5.6.2023. https://doi.org/10.58077/RFRG-KD14

Peake & Hilpinen, “Kuinka nähdä ja puhua seksuaalisuuden, sukupuolen ja suhteiden moninaisuudesta historiassa? Kaksi 1800-luvun esimerkkiä arkistosta” (“How to see and talk about sexual and gender diversity in history? Two examples from 19th-century archives”). Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 121:3 (2022), 289–303. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202210057431

Peake & Hilpinen, ”Kohti sateenkaarisensitiivistä käännettä Suomen historian tutkimuksessa” (”Toward a queer turn in Finnish historical research”)”. Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 120:1, 98–102. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202209277302

Kinnunen & Peake, ”Queering Polymorphic Jesus in the Early Christian Acts of John and in Seventeenth-Century French Ursuline Lived Religion”. St. Sunniva: Tidsskrift for Feministisk Teologi. 1 (2022), 6–25. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202302202517

The Power of Religious Societies in Shaping Early Modern Society and Identities. Crossing Boundaries: Turku Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789462986688  

Peake & Rosenberg, Korsetti ja krusifiksi: vaikutusvaltaisia barokin ajan pariisittaria (”Influential Parisian women in the age of Baroque”). Helsinki: Gaudeamus, 2019. https://kauppa.gaudeamus.fi/sivu/tuote/korsetti-ja-krusifiksi/2523947

25.8.2024 Expert interview in the article “Salattu rakkaus” on Cely Mechelin and turn-of-the-century queer women and their networks in Helsinki. In Finnish. Journalist: Erika Mäkelä. Helsingin Sanomat. https://www.hs.fi/helsinki/art-2000010609051.html

19.4.2021 Expert interview in the radio programme “Homoerotiikka Raamatun maailmassa” (“Homoeroticism in the world of the Bible”), together with Professor Martti Nissinen and Senior Lecturer Outi Lehtipuu. Journalist: Vesa Kytöoja. Kulttuuriykkönen, YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Company). https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-50779940  

6.8.2020 Expert interview in the article ”Uskonnonharjoittaminen tarjosi 1600-luvulla naisille eroottisia näkyjä – ”Suhdetta Kristukseen kuvailtiin ja kuviteltiin mielenkiintoisilla ja shokeeraavillakin tavoilla”” on queer erotics in 17th-century Catholic mysticism. Journalist: Kaisa Halonen. Kirkko ja Kaupunki. https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/rose-marie-peake-tutkii-barokkiajan-nunnien-hengellisyytta-suhdetta-kristukseen-kuvailtiin-ja-kuviteltiin-mielenkiintoisilla-ja-shokeeraavillakin-tavo  

16.12.2019 Expert interview in the episode “#40 – Korsetti ja krusifiksi. Osa 2” on my co-authored book Korsetti ja krusifiksi, together with Dr Riikka-Maria Rosenberg. Podcast Ranskaa raakana! by Dr Johanna Isosävi. https://isosavi.podbean.com/e/ranskaa-raakana-40-korsetti-ja-krusifiksi-vaikutusvaltaisia-barokin-ajan-pariisittaria-vieraina-rose-marie-peake-ja-riikka-maria-rosenberg-osa-2/

4.12.2019 Expert interview in the episode “#39 – Korsetti ja krusifiksi. Osa 1” on my co-authored book Korsetti ja krusifiksi, together with Dr Riikka-Maria Rosenberg. Podcast Ranskaa raakana! by Dr Johanna Isosävi. https://isosavi.podbean.com/e/ranskaa-raakana-39-korsetti-ja-krusifiksi-vaikutusvaltaisia-barokin-ajan-pariisittaria-vieraina-rose-marie-peake-ja-riikka-maria-rosenberg-osa-1/