Academics

Arctic Studies Minor

The Minor in Arctic Studies offers students a structured opportunity to study the Arctic Region’s role in global affairs, particularly in light of climate change. The program explores the impact of melting ice on maritime routes, access to resources, and geopolitical tensions. It also delves into the effects of climate change on northern communities, particularly Arctic Indigenous communities and infrastructure. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the circumpolar world through a combination of required and elective courses focusing on climate change ethics, international relations, cultural studies, language training, and more.

To obtain the Arctic Studies minor, students must complete 25 credits, including the following:

  • Foundational Course (5 credits):
    • ARCTIC 200 Indigenous Diplomacies and International Relations in the Arctic: International relations in the Arctic. Emphasis on perspectives of the region’s Indigenous peoples. The Arctic provides an important case study for understanding international relations, given the complexity of geopolitical issues and the strong presence of Indigenous peoples in the region. Introduces Indigenous peoples, languages, and ways of thinking.
  • Integrative Experience (5 credits, choose one of these):
    • ARCTIC 401 Current Issues in the Arctic Region: Addresses current challenges and opportunities in the circumpolar North, from the perspective of current cutting-edge research, fields of practice, and Arctic Indigenous peoples and communities. May include climate change, social well-being, education, governance, and more.
    • JSIS 495 TaskForce: Small-group seminars address current problems in international affairs, each focusing on one specific policy question and producing a joint task force report. Restricted to senior majors in International Studies.
  • Electives Requirements (15 credits).
    • Arctic Peoples course (minimum 5 credits)
    • Arctic Environments course (minimum 3 credits)
    • Additional courses from either Arctic Peoples or Arctic Environments list of approved courses to bring total to a minimum 15 credits
  • Students must maintain a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA for courses applied to the minor
  • Minimum 15 credits taken from outside student’s major requirements
  • Minimum 15 credits 300- and 400-level coursework
  • Minimum 15 credits taken in residence at UW Seattle

Please schedule an appointment with an advisor if you have any questions.

The University of Washington is part of the University of the Arctic network. UArctic courses are available to UW students, staff and faculty at no cost, and may count towards the Arctic Studies minor. Information about UArctic courses is available here.

Featured 2024-2025 courses

Approved list of elective courses

Arctic Peoples – minimum of 5 credits

ARCHY 345 Global Ethnoarchaeology (5) SSc: This course examines ethnoarchaeological techniques, practices, and hands-on applications to understand how humans create and occupy archaeological sites and make artifacts worldwide. 

ARCHY 377 Arctic Archaeology (5) SSc: Archaeological history of the circumpolar Arctic and Sub-Arctic from Pleistocene to the nineteenth century.

ARCTIC 101 Elementary Inuktut: Inuit Language and Culture in Canada (5): First-year Inuktut consists of a sequence of three elementary-level language courses designed to develop basic communication skills in both oral and written Inuktut, the Inuit language spoken in Canada.

ARCTIC 102 Elementary Inuktut: Inuit Language and Culture in Canada (5): First-year Inuktut consists of a sequence of three elementary-level language courses designed to develop basic communication skills in both oral and written Inuktut, the Inuit language spoken in Canada. 

ARCTIC 103 Elementary Inuktut: Inuit Language and Culture in Canada (5): First-year Inuktut consists of a sequence of three elementary-level language courses designed to develop basic communication skills in both oral and written Inuktut, the Inuit language spoken in Canada.

ARCTIC 210 Inuit, the Arctic, and Global Change (5) SSc: Dives into the Arctic’s role in global history and its significance today, examining how outsiders viewed the region for centuries.

 ARCTIC 308 Arctic Literature and Film (5) A&H /SCAND 355 Literatures of the Arctic (5) A&H, SSc, DIV: This course looks at how both northerners and “outsiders” to the region represent the Arctic in written work and film, including Arctic Indigenous authors/filmmakers. Offered annually in

 ARCTIC 321/HSTCMP 321 At the Top of the World: Arctic Histories (5) SSc: History of human understanding of and relationship to the Arctic via social, economic, political, and environmental transformations of Earth’s northernmost region.

ARCTIC 387/ESS 402 Exploration Seminar to Greenland and Denmark (5): The course will focus on the science of ice and climate change and how these changes impact society.

ARCTIC 410 Self-Determination in Canada and Beyond: Inuit Rising (5) SSc, DIV: Includes the history of contact and colonization between Inuit and the outside world, then focuses on Inuit self-determination and their impact on global and local issues.

 JSIS B 431/JSIS B 531 International Negotiation Simulation, Arctic (5) SSc: This course features a weekend-long, in-person international crisis negotiation simulation exercise implemented with the U.S. Army War College. Note that this course only may only be used as an elective for the Arctic Minor when the simulation is focused on the Arctic.

 JSIS 495: Task Force on the Arctic (5): The Task Force is one of the capstone courses for International Studies majors. This course takes students to Ottawa, Canada, for a one-week research trip to visit Inuit organizations, federal government departments, scholars, and Arctic nation-state embassies.

Arctic Environment – minimum of 5 credits

AIS 385 Indigenous Ecologies and Climate Change (5) SSc, DIV: This course examines diverse ways Indigenous Peoples worldwide understand, experience, and respond to contemporary global climate change.

ARCTIC 387/ESS 402 Exploration Seminar to Greenland and Denmark (5): The course will focus on the science of ice and climate change and how these changes impact society.

ATM S 100 Climate, Justice, and Energy Solutions (5) SSc/NSc: Presents visions of the future when the climate crisis is solved. Solutions include building a resilient society with clean energy, sustainable agriculture, climate justice, and a just worker transition.

ATM S 111 Global Warming: Understanding the Issues (5) SSc/NSc: Presents a broad overview of the science of global warming. Recounts future climate projections and societal decisions that influence greenhouse gas emission scenarios and our ability to adapt to climate change

ESS 107 Introduction to Ice in the Earth and Space Sciences (5) NSc: Covers glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, icebergs, permafrost, lake ice, and snow on Earth and other planets. Emphasis is placed on human impacts. Support available for students without a STEM or coding background.

ESS 431: Principles of Glaciology (4) NSc: Covers snow deposition and metamorphism, avalanches, heat and mass balance at snow and ice surfaces, glacier flow, ice sheets, sea ice, permafrost, methods of paleoclimate reconstruction, Ice Age theories.

FISH 464 Arctic Marine Vertebrate Ecology (5) NSc: Explores the structure and function of Arctic ecosystems, life history, and adaptations of vertebrates, as well as how species are affected by climate warming. Offered Winter Quarter, odd years; prerequisite BIOL 180.

SMEA 407 International Organizations and Ocean Management (3) SSc: Primary emphasis is on analyzing the effectiveness of regimes and processes that support or constrain organizations in different issues or regions, such as climate change or the Arctic.

OCEAN 102 The Changing Oceans (5) SSc/NSc: Explores case studies on how the ocean drives our planet’s climate system and how humans have altered marine and coastal environments. Students consider societal factors affecting progress in marine science, changing popular attitudes toward the oceans, and key current policy implications of marine science.

OCEAN 200 Introduction to Oceanography (3) NSc: Focuses on the importance of ocean processes for the functioning of our planet.

OCEAN 235 Arctic Change (3) SSc/NSc: Investigates the Arctic system of ocean, ice, atmosphere, and seafloor; how humans interact with it, and what the future of the Arctic means to the world.