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November 2024: Unruly Heritage: Archaeologies of the Anthropocene

The term cultural heritage has a positive meaning for most people. We often associate it with old and valued things, a good and desired legacy that we want to protect. But what about all the heritage that is not desired, old, or pleasant? The anthology Unruly Heritage: Archaeologies of the Anthropocene looks precisely at this and asks what happens if we expand the understanding of cultural heritage to also include the troublesome and uncomfortable things? The book is the result of the project Unruly Heritage (2018-2023). It is the third contemporary archaeological project at UiT, all funded by the NFR since 2010. The previous projects are Ruin Memories (2010-2013), Object Matters (2015-2018), and additionally, there is the CAS project After Discourse (at the Centre for Advanced Studies).

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October 2024: Arctic Six

New Arctic Six Chair Ana Luisa Sanchez Laws presented in Luleå a new project on Memoryscapes in the Arctic. The new Arctic Six alliance gives the opportunity to transcend boundaries and explore collective memories in the region more holistically. The Arctic Six is a partnership between Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Nord University, the University of Lapland, and the University of Oulu with the aim to lead the way in Arctic issues. Through the alliance they advance and share knowledge, develop education, undertake research and create innovations for the development of a sustainable Arctic.

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July 2024: Riddu Riddu

UiT has for many years been a central collaboration partner for the Riddu Riddu festival. This year, as usual, the arts and humanities contribute in several areas. This year's UiT seminar is titled Indigenous Knowledge on the Queer Side. We ask: How can we increase knowledge and ensure that it is for, with, and by both queer and indigenous people? We also award the Árdnaprisen for the best master's thesis on Sami or indigenous-related topics. In addition, we are present in the UiT lavvu at the festival area with several of our academic environments.

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June 2024: New permanent exhibition at the Arctic University Museum

The exhibition Rávdnji was opened on June 13, 2024, at the Arctic University Museum of Norway. It drew inspiration from the exhibition Girjegumpi - a collaborative library archive of Sámi architecture by artist and architect Joar Nango, which was part of the at the Nordic Countries Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Architecture. The research group SAMFORSK set out to Venice in the fall of 2023 to explore how an exhibition like Girjegumpi opens a space for interaction and dialogue. Audiences, curators, and researchers can come together and share and exchange perspectives that contribute to enhancing knowledge about Indigenous culture and history.

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June 2024: Network Meeting at Arctic Congress

The Centre for Arctic Humanities organises an international network meeting during the Arctic Congress in Bodø. Everyone is welcome. The meeting gives a possibility for scholars working within the Arctic Humanities to connect with UiT's newly established Centre for Arctic Humanities and express their interest in collaboration. The meeting will take place on Saturday the 1st of June 2024 from 1:00 to 1:30 pm in the communal areas next to 'Kammersalen' in Stormen Concert Hall.

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May 2024: Special Issue on 'Maps' in Ottar 

Few things express past worldviews as vividly as old maps. With their imaginative depictions of mountain formations, maelstroms, monsters, and people, these old maps are poorly suited as guides in actual geography, but as guides in another sense of the word, they are fabulous. The maps provide us with rich information about what people before us believed, knew, and understood about the world. A broadly conceived Ottar booklet, Gamledagers forestillingsverden om det nordlige: Nordområdekart fra perioden 1480–1750 (Old Days' Worldview of the North: Northern Area Maps from the period 1480–1750), has recently been released. Through six articles, old maps of the northern areas—many from the university's own collections—are studied and discussed. Ottar can be read for free at UiT's publishing service, Septentrio Academic Publishing. A paper copy can be ordered for a reasonable fee from UiT's printing service.

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April 2024: Fuglan veit

FUGLAN VEIT in collaboration with Vega Archipelago WH Foundation organized the The Sound of Silence seabird conference 3. April 2024 in Bodø, this year’s European Capital of Culture. The conference gathered young and old, traditional bird tenders, bird enthusiasts and NGOs, researchers, management authorities & politicians for a two-day event in Bodø and Fleinvær. Seabird populations are in alarming decline. Action, care, and new alliances are needed, and research perspectives that recognize the messages the birds bring.  See NRK reporting here.

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April 2024: Traveling exhibition

What does it mean to live with the ocean? What will the seafood of the future look like? How are we going to live by or in the sea? What will the grandchild's job in Harstad be in 2050? The exhibition 'Living with the Ocean' combines visual experiences with thought-provoking questions. The exhibition was discussed among others with UiT's Environmental Humanities group and the local community. It is part of a larger EEA project on coastal culture and is an innovative collaboration between the Sesimbra Maritime Museum in Portugal and CRAFT-Lab. It is an example of innovative research dissemination. It was previously shown in Sesimbra, Portugal, earlier this year and will move on to Brussels in October. Everyone can see and draw on it in Svalbardparken in Harstad throughout the summer. Read more.

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February 2024: Sandbox symposium 

The 21. and 22. of February 2024 the first ArcHum sandbox symposium served as a kick-off for the Centre for Arctic Humanities at UiT. Sverker Sörlin (KTH) gave a keynote on Arctic Humanities: The Rise and Future of an Integrative Knowledge Field. Colleagues with an interest in the Arctic humanities created ripple effects between various research environments at UiT and gathered ideas for new forms of collaboration and meeting places for humanities researchers with an interest in interdisciplinary work within the Arctic humanities. Read the full programme here.

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January 2024: Side event at Arctic Frontiers

Vice-Dean for Research Marie Theres Federhofer has taken the initiative for the side event 'The Arctic in the Anthropocene' organized by Archum in collaboration with Prof. Cristoph Schneider from Humboldt University of Berlin during Arctic Frontieres 29th January 2024. The event was attended by about 50 people and the panel received a lot of spontaneous positive responses after the session. The event was streamed and is publicly available on Youtube.

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December 2023: Centre for Arctic Humanities opened at UiT

The 6th of December 2023 the Centre for Arctic Humanities was opened by rector Dag Rune Olsen and traditional joik by Niko Valkeapää in Árdna. The opening was accompanied by an international press release. Welcome addresses has been given by Ingeborg Høvik & Sigfrid Kjeldaas from the  RCN funded project Arctic Voices and Fern Wickson from the Arctic Sustainability Lab. You can read the whole program here (in Norwegian).