2504.17 - Introduction to Circumpolar Studies

2504.17

Introduction to Circumpolar Studies

10

No Preceding Courses / Prerequisites registered

This course provides a basic survey of societies, cultures, economies, governance and law in the High North and the Arctic. Students are encouraged to take an interdisciplinary approach to the critical issues, challenges and opportunities in this area. The course is built upon contemporary research in the fields of social and human sciences, including legal scholarship, and incorporates knowledge from the fields of natural science, economics, and business studies.

The main topics include: Arctic peoples; Arctic economics; industrialization and resource utilization, including navigation; change and persistence in Northern societies and cultures; gender relations in the Arctic; health and wellbeing; co-management, good governance and human rights; environmental justice; self-determination of Indigenous Peoples; and indigenous epistemology. The course examines these issues in light of the impacts of, and adaptation to, climate change on Arctic peoples, societies and environments. The course is taught exclusively in English.

• Classroom teaching by a range of experts and scholars from the many research institutions in Akureyri. • Dialogue and short written assignments with feedback. • Field visits.

• Upon successful completion of this course, students will: • Be able to explain the basic elements of the history, legal framework, and Peoples in the High North and of cultural and linguistic diversity in the circumpolar North; • Be able to identify and compare different modes of subsistence, production and resource management that characterize High North communities and regions; • Be able to describe the social, cultural and economic changes in the Artic; • Be able to outline the diverse living conditions, knowledge systems and human experiences in the High North; • Be able to identify and critically reflect upon critical issues regarding transportations of people and goods in the High North and circumpolar area; • Be able to independently analyse the impacts of, and adaptations to, global processes and climate change in the Arctic; • Be able to compare and critically assess the solutions presented by different systems to pressing issues, including international law, international relations theory, economics and environmental ethics.

• Active participation • Three 200 words written assignments during the course (10 % each) • One 5.000 words written assignment after the course (70 %)

External

7-

Required readings: Loukacheva (ed): Polar Law Textbook II, 2013. Loukacheva (ed): Polar Law Textbook, 2010. Larsen, et al: Arctic Human Development Report II, 2015. Additional readings: Larsen, et al: Arctic Social Indicators II, 2015. Larsen, et al: Arctic Human Development Report, 2004. Larsen, et al: Arctic Social Indicators II, 2015.

Lau Øfjord Blaxekjær