Arctic Minor Courses - 2020-2021 - Canadian Studies Center

Arctic Minor Courses – 2020-2021

The following courses are required courses for the Arctic Studies minor or fulfill elective requirements. For questions on courses, contact the Canadian Studies Center at canada@uw.edu.

FALL QUARTER 2020

ARCTIC 200: Indigenous Diplomacies and International Relations in the Arctic (3 cr.), T, 2:30-5:20 p.m., Jason Young, Senior Research Scientist, UW Information School**

This course introduces students to international relations in the Arctic, with an emphasis on understanding IR from the perspective of the region’s Indigenous peoples. Students will study dramatic environmental, economic, and social transformations in the Arctic; learn about emerging geopolitical issues; explore Indigenous perspectives on international relations in the Arctic; and challenge themselves to understand international frameworks through the lens of Indigenous knowledge systems.

ARCTIC 301: Advanced Inuktitut (3 cr.), M/Th, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Alexina Kublu, former Languages Commission of Nunavut, Canada**

This course will expand students’ knowledge of Inuktitut in the four areas of language learning: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will continue with Dialectology, finishing the tour of the Canadian dialects. Students will keep a journal in Inuktitut to help them use the language meaningfully. At the end of the course, students should be able to recognize different Canadian dialects, write on a range of subjects, be able to express their opinion in Inuktitut, and be able to hold conversations with native speakers.

HSTCMP 290 B: Polar History (5 cr.), M/W, 1:30-3:20 p.m., Bruce Hevly, Associate Professor, UW Department of History

This course looks at the Arctic and Antarctic regions in historical perspective since the 18th century. Special emphasis is given to the history of science and technology, exploration and empire, Indigeneity, military and political concerns. The course also addresses “polar dreams” and their role in national identity formation.

WINTER QUARTER 2021

ARCTIC 220/HSTCMP 220: At the Top of the World: Arctic Histories (5 cr.), M/W, 10:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m., Elena Campbell, Associate Professor, UW Department of History

This course covers the history of human understanding of and relationship to the Arctic by tracing the social, economic, political, and environmental transformations of the Earth’s northernmost region, from earliest settlements to the end of the twentieth century (the creation of the Arctic Council in 1996), as well as shifts in ideas that accompanied these changes.

ARCTIC 302: Advanced Inuktitut (3 cr.),M/Th, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Alexina Kublu, former Languages Commission of Nunavut, Canada**

The second course in the third-year Inuktitut language sequence.

ARCTIC 401: Arctic Landscape Change and Detection (3 cr.), W, 12:30-3:20 p.m., Kevin Turner, Associate Professor, Brock University and 2020-21 Fulbright Canada Visiting Chair in Arctic Studies

This seminar course will focus on identifying and discussing the many landscape disturbances across Arctic regions with a focus on Northern Yukon and the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. The course components include 1) a review of climate-change related research priorities at global and local levels, 2) insight into the various processes influencing the cryosphere and controlling landscape responses to changing climate, 3) a review of the remote sensing (using satellite, airborne and drone platforms) and in-situ methodologies utilized to understand relations among landscape systems and climate change, and 4) a practical component where students work hands on with spatial data to identify change across a northern location of interest. The landscape disturbances that will be focused on include permafrost degradation (e.g., thaw slumps, thermokarst, lake drainage), shrub vegetation proliferation, and fire. We will also discuss effective engagement and communication with the northern Indigenous communities that are most affected by change.

FISH 464: Arctic Marine Vertebrate Ecology (4 cr.), T/Th, 10:00-11:20 a.m., Kristin Laidre, Assistant Professor, UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

The objectives of this course are to convey an understanding of how Arctic marine ecosystems are structured and how they function the challenges that various upper-trophic level marine organisms meet when living in the Arctic, how individuals adapt and how populations are affected by physical changes in the Arctic environment. Pre-req: BIO 180 or equivalent. Please note: this course requires an additional discussion section once per week on Thursdays.

SPRING QUARTER 2021

ARCTIC 303: Advanced Inuktitut (3 cr.),M/Th, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Alexina Kublu, former Languages Commission of Nunavut, Canada**

The third course in the third-year Inuktitut language sequence.

ARCTIC 391/JSIS B 391/HONORS 391: Climate Change: An International Perspective: Science, Art, and Activism (5 cr.), T/Th 12:30-2:20 p.m., Robert Pavia, UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

This course explores the science of climate change in the context of social and political constraints. It further explores the role of art and activism in communicating climate impacts and mitigation options. Students will gain knowledge of key atmospheric and ocean science principles along with developing a greater understanding of contemporary issues in the context of Arctic nations and peoples. Students will develop skills for critically evaluating the popular portrayal of scientific concepts and their role in policy debates.

OCEAN 235: Arctic Change (2 or 3 cr.), Rebecca Woodgate, Professor, UW College of the Environment

This course investigates the Arctic system of ocean, ice, atmosphere, and sea-floor; how humans interact with it, and what the future of the Arctic means to the world. Includes sea-ice loss, climate impacts, and Arctic resource exploitation.

**This course is sponsored by the Canadian Studies Center and Center for Global Studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies with Title VI grant funding administered by the International and Foreign Language Education office in the Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education.