Mikko Viitamäki works as University Lecturer in South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki. He received the PhD degree at the University of Helsinki in 2015 majoring in Arabic and Islamic studies. In his dissertation, he studied the relationship of a poetic text and musical performance in the context of Sufi religious practice in Delhi and Hyderabad.

At present, Dr. Viitamäki teaches South Asian languages (Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit) as well as courses on South Asian literatures and cultures. His teaching and research interests cover topics such as politics of language in India and Pakistan, aesthetics, history and performance contexts of Persian and Urdu poetry, Islamic reform and contemporary Islamic debates in South Asia. He is also working on a translation of an anthology of Urdu poetry into Finnish.