Undergraduate Programs

Arctic Studies – Minor

Learn more about the minor and our students.

To obtain the Arctic Studies minor, students must complete 28 credits, to include the following:

  • Four core courses (12 credits):
    • ARCTIC 200
    • ARCTIC 400
    • ARCTIC 401
    • OCEAN 235
  • Additional 16 credits of electives (at least four courses). At least one course must be ranked with a North Star*, indicating more than 1/3 Arctic content.
    • 2 courses in the social sciences
    • 2 courses in the natural sciences

Students must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and a minimum of 15 credits must be completed at the University of Washington.

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.

Approved list of elective courses by category and department

North Star* courses are marked with a *. Please see the UW course catalog for course descriptions and prerequisites: http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/

Social Sciences

Arctic Studies

  • *ARCTIC 220/HSTCMP 220: At the Top of the World: Arctic Histories (5) I&S
  • *ARCTIC 387: Exploration Seminar to Greenland and Denmark (1-5)
  • *ARCTIC 391/JSIS B 391/HONORS 391: Climate Change – An International Perspective: Science, Art and Activism (5) VLPA/I&S
  • *ARCTIC 498: Special Topics (social sciences content)

American Indian Studies

  • AIS 340: Indian Children & Families (5) I&S
  • AIS 360: American Indians in Cinema (5) VLPA/I&S
  • AIS 441: Gender in Native American Societies (5) I&S
  • AIS 443/COM 443: Indigenous Films, Sovereign Visions (5) VLPA/I&S
  • AIS 444: Criminality & “Deviance” in Native Communities (5) I&S
  • AIS 461/JSIS A 426: First Nations Government & Politics in Canada (5) I&S
  • AIS 465/JSIS A 422: First Nations Filmmaking in Canada (5) VLPA

Anthropology and Archaeology

  • ANTRO 211/AES 211/ENVIR 211: Environmental Justice (5) I&S
  • ANTH 310: Native North American Societies (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • ANTHRO 371/ENVIR 371: Anthropology of Development (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • *ARCHY 377: Archaeology of the Arctic (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • ANTHRO 459/ENVIR 459: Culture, Ecology, & Politics (5) I&S

Comparative History of Ideas

  • CHID 470A: Sámi Culture and the Sounds of Place (5) Study Abroad Course
  • CHID 470C/AIS 275C: Introduction to the North Sámi Language (2) Study Abroad Course
  • CHID 470B/AIS 275B: Theorizing Global Indigenous Studies (5) Study Abroad Course

Economics

  • ECON 435: Natural Resource Economics (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • ECON 436: Economics of the Environment (5) I&S (pre-req)

Environmental & Forest Sciences, Environmental Science & Resource Management

  • ESRM 371/SOC 379/ENVIR 379: Environmental Sociology (5) I&S/NW
  • ESRM 400: Natural Resource Conflict Management (3) I&S/NW

Geography

  • GEOG 270: Geographies of International Development & Environmental Change (5) I&S
  • GEOG 271: Geography of Food & Eating (5) I&S
  • GEOG 375/JSIS B 375: Geopolitics (5) I&S
  • GEOG 370: Problems in Resource Management (5) I&S
  • GEOG 433: Resource Use & Management in Russia & Former Soviet Republics (5) I&S
  • GEOG 480: Environmental Geography, Climate, & Health (5) I&S (pre-req)

Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies

  • GWSS 341/AIS 341: Native Women in the Americas (5) I&S
  • GWSS 440/AIS 440: Reading Native American Women’s Lives (5, max. 10) I&S
  • GWSS 442/AIS 442: Images of Natives in the Cinema & Popular Cultures (5) I&S/VLPA

Jackson School of International Studies

  • JSIS 201: The Making of the 21st Century (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • JSIS A 301: Europe Today (5) I&S
  • JSIS A 348/POL S 348: European Union as Global Actor (5) I&S
  • JSIS A 420: Post-Soviet Security (5) I&S
  • JSIS A 427/ANTH 425: Anthropology of the Post-Soviet States (5) I&S
  • *JSIS B 350/ENVIR 360/SCAND 350: Environmental Norms in International Politics (5) I&S
  • JSIS B 441: Forced Migrations (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • JSIS 478: Geopolitics of Oil (5) I&S

History

  • *HSTCMP 220/ARCTIC 220: At the Top of the World: Arctic Histories (5) I&S

Law, Society & Justice

  • LSJ 320/POL S 368: The Politics & Law of International Human Rights (5) I&S

Marine & Environmental Affairs

  • *SMEA 407: International Organizations & Ocean Management (3)
  • SMEA 476/ENVIR 476: Introduction to Environmental Law & Process (3) I&S
  • *SMEA 514: Marine Pollution Management Issues (3)

Philosophy

  • PHIL 207/POL S 207/VALUES 207: Issues of Global Justice (5) I&S
  • PHIL 243/ENVIR 243: Environmental Ethics (5) I&S
  • PHIL 416/ENVIR 416: Ethics & Climate Change (5) I&S
  • PHIL 417/ENVIR 417: Advanced Topics in Environmental Philosophy (5) I&S

Political Science

  • POL S 203: Introduction to International Relations (5) I&S
  • POL S 321: American Foreign Policy (5) I&S
  • POL S 328: International Organizations (5) I&S (pre-req)
  • POL S 384/ENVIR 384: Global Environmental Politics (5) I&S
  • POL S 385/ENVIR 385: Political Ecology of the World Food System (5) I&S
  • POL S 423: International Law (5) I&S
  • POL S 426/JSIS B 426: World Politics (5) I&S
  • POL S 427: International Political Economy (5) I&S
  • *POL S 437/SCAND 437: Politics in Scandinavia (5) I&S
  • POL S 442/JSIS A 408: Government & Politics of China (5) I&S
  • POL S 448: Politics of the European Union (5) I&S

Scandinavian Studies

  • *SCAND 326/POL S 326: Scandinavia in World Affairs (5) I&S
  • SCAND 351/JSIS A 351: Scandinavia, the European Union, & Global Climate Change (5) I&S
  • *SCAND 355/ARCTIC 498 A: Literatures of the Arctic: Unsettling Encounters and Cultures of Resilience (5)
  • *SCAND 479/JSIS A 429: Eco-Capitalism (5) I&S

Sociology

  • SOC 356/POL S 356: Society & Politics (5) I&S

Bothell Campus

  • *BIS 490: Economics of Ice: Globalization & the Polar Regions (5)

University of the Arctic (on-line courses)

  • *BCS 331 Contemporary Issues in the Circumpolar World (4)
  • *BCS 332 Contemporary Issues in the Circumpolar World (4)

Natural Sciences

Arctic Studies

  • *ARCTIC 498: Special Topics (natural sciences content)

Aquatic & Fisheries Sciences

  • FISH 250/BIOL 250/OCEAN 250: Marine Biology (3/5) I&S
  • FISH 330/ENVIR 330: Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems (5) NW
  • FISH 437: Fisheries Oceanography (4) NW
  • *FISH 464: Arctic Marine Vertebrate Ecology (4) (pre-req)

Atmospheric Sciences

  • ATM S 211: Climate & Climate Change (5) I&S/NW
  • ATM S 321: The Science of Climate (3) NW (pre-req)
  • ATM S 475/ESS 475/OCEAN 475: Current Research in Climate Science Seminar (3, max. 6) (pre-req)

Environmental & Forest Sciences, Environmental Science & Resource Management

  • ESRM 210: Introductory Soils (5) NW
  • ESRM 350: Wildlife Biology & Conservation (5) NW (pre-req)
  • ESRM 450: Wildlife Ecology & Conservation (5) NW (pre-req)

Earth & Space Sciences

  • ESS 201: The Earth System & Climate (5) (pre-req)
  • ESS 203: Glaciers & Global Change (5) I&S/NW
  • ESS 302: Great Ice Age (5) NW (pre-req)
  • ESS 431: Principles of Glaciology (4) NW
  • ESS 433: Environmental Change in the Glacial Ages (5) NW
  • ESS 435: Glacial-Periglacial Geomorphology (3) NW (pre-req)

Oceanography

  • OCEAN 200: Introduction to Oceanography (3)
  • OCEAN 210: Ocean Circulation (3) NW 
(pre-req)
  • OCEAN 355: From Big Bang to the Blue Planet (3) NW (pre-req)
  • OCEAN 423: Ocean Circulation & Climate (3) (pre-req)
  • OCEAN 430: Biological Oceanography (4) (pre-req)
  • OCEAN 431: Special Topics in Biological Oceanography (3) NW (pre-req)
  • OCEAN 450: Climatic Extremes (4) NW
  • *OCEAN 482: The Changing Arctic Ocean (3) NW

Quantitative Science

  • Q SCI 210/ENVIR 210: Introduction to Environmental Modeling (4) NW, QSR