Teaching Arctic Environments is a collaborative and interdisciplinary project led by Isabelle Gap, University of Aberdeen, and. Jonathan Peyton, University of Manitoba and UW’s 2022-23 Fulbright Canada Chair in Arctic Studies. Project partners include: director Nadine Fabbi, and Dr. Penny How with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
Through an ongoing series of events, conversations, and the creation of digital “educational boxes” Teaching Arctic Environments addresses the need for multi-disciplinary and collaborative pedagogy. By developing and co-creating online and open-access visually-orientated teaching resources we aim to address the growing need and demand for critical environmental humanities pedagogy of the circumpolar Arctic. With the increasing urgency of the climate crisis, and the need to tell stories alongside scientific data, this project pairs critical environments scholarship with environmental art history and visual culture, something still lacking within the field of environmental humanities. The goal is that these resources will be incorporated into high school and undergraduate curricula, shaping and inspiring interdisciplinary conversations around different topics and themes of importance to understanding the past, present, and future of the Arctic.
The digital “educational boxes” are focused around historic and contemporary, Indigenous and non-Indigenous visual, material, and literary culture. They introduce a wide array of different discipline backgrounds, including geography, art history, Canadian studies, social work, and film and photography, alongside different cultural and geographical experiences. So far, our contributors include Indigenous and non-Indigenous graduate students, Early Career Researchers, and established scholars from around the Circumpolar North.
Several UW faculty, graduate students, and former visiting scholars with Canadian Studies contributed to the site content. This is a living project, growing and evolving over time. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with the project co-leads here.
The project was funded by the Scottish Government Arctic Connections Fund (2023-24), the University of Washington through Trent University and Memorial University (2023-2024), a University of Manitoba UIPPSF Internal Grant (2024-2025), and a NERC-Arctic Office UK-Greenland Research Bursary (2024-2025).