Center for Arctic Humanities

News archive

29.01.2026:

DEATNU / TANA / TENO – The Big River

How are river systems and cultures in the Arctic affected by climate change, nature management paradigms, and encroachments? How can investigations of the complex and interconnected river landscape and socio-ecological systems translate into spatial, aesthetic, and ethical strategies for adaptive solutions?

Experience the exhibition Deatnu – the big river at the Fram Centre, open from February 6th onwards. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Landscape Architecture master program at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the Tana River project, Fram Centre, and the Sharing our knowledge project (UiT).

At the exhibition, you can experience presentations of master students’ works and the Deatnu river yoik.

Course responsible: Magdalena Haggärde

Co-teachers: Mari Bergset & Marc Ihle

23.01.2026:

Northern Norwegian Ukraine Hub

The project Northern Norwegian Ukraine Hub at UiT The Arctic University of Norway has been awarded three million NOK through the Program for Ukraine Competence (UA-KOMP) from the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. The initiative is led by Professor Tore Nesset and aims to contribute to a lasting enhancement in teaching, research, and dissemination about Ukraine.

22.01.2026:

Other voices in Arctic history

Arctic Voices is a collective of artists and researchers from a variety of disciplines within the humanities. Their work contributes knowledge on the historical causes and interconnection of social inequality and environmental degradation in the Arctic region in the present, and the concurrent, historical existence and imortance of Indigenous counter-voices to western practices of capitalism and colonialism. Arctic Voices' output includes a double, special issue for Interventions and the edited catalogue, Visualizing Arctic Voices. Read more about their work in Bår Stenvik's interview with Ingeborg Høvik in Forskerforum No. 7/2025.

20.12.2025:

AI, Arts & Humanities

What are the possible roles of the arts & humanities in research initiatives on artificial intelligence? Open seminar with Loïs Vanhée, co-director of TAIGA Transdisciplinary Center for AI - for the Good of All (Umeå) and Jon Marius from the Academy of Music and co-lead of WP 5 in MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity

20.11.2025:

Sámi Rhythm, Sounds of Nature, Yoik

SAMFORSK arranged a two-days symposium on contemporary research in acoustic ecology at The Arctic University Museum and Árdna – UiT’s Sami Cultural building from 3th to 4th of November 2025. The event was organised in collaboration with Digijoik and Sharing Our Knowledge. This symposium collectively explored the intersections of Sámi cultural heritage, soundscapes, and artistic research, emphasizing the role of sound, rhythm, and storytelling as living, relational archives. Central themes include the politics of listening, biocultural sustainability, and the ethical dimensions of preserving, translating and circulating research or artefacts rooted in Sámi cultural praxis. You find the full programme here. You can soon read a more detailed report from the symposium at SAMFORSK (RR/LM).

18.11.2025:

Munin Conference 2025

The Munin Conference is an annual conference on scholarly publishing and communication, primarily revolving around open access, open data and open science.

12.11.2025:

Experience the museum at night

Enjoy an evening of culture, science, and social enrichment when the Arctic University Museum of Norway is open until 9 PM on one Wednesday every month! The exhibitions are open, there will be different events, and the café offers tempting deals for everyone, with extra discounts for students.

12.11.2025:

Writing Day | with EnvHum

04.11.2025:

Brown-bag seminar: Indigenous sciences in management

Transforming Epistemic Authority in Environmental Management: Building a Future through Plural Knowledge Systems for Planetary Security

Heather Sauyaq Jean Kwamboka Gordon, PhD (Iñupiaq) is a Fulbright Arctic Initiative scholar visiting the Arctic Centre, at the University of Lapland and traveling across Sápmi.

20.10.2025:

International Conference with Fuglan Veit

How can we learn to listen to the messages of the birds? How can we learn from traditional care practices? How to increase attention and space for action to protect and take care of seabirds? The international conference FUGLAN VEIT – sjøfuglene som varslere i naturkrisa | UiT (October 6-8, 2025) organized by STED and EA:RTH addressed these questions through presentations, films, and panel discussions at the Arctic University Museum of Norway, Verdensteater, and campus Tromsø. Among the 80 participants were researchers from various disciplines, students, bird caretakers, fishers, and others concerned with seabirds, from Vega in the south to Vardø and Porsanger in the north. (AF/LM)

30.09.2025:

ArcHum Pianovandring

ArcHum organized UiT's first piano walk on September 26, 2025. Employees, students, and guests joined parts or the entire walk and listened to music and short stories about research activities at the various locations. The walk started at the University Library (UB) with the Music Conservatory, continued to the Department of Teacher Education (ILP) with the Center for Arctic Youth and Department of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies and Theology with INREL, before moving to the Department of Philosophy and First Semester Studies with Arctic Auditories. The pianos became well known with Herborg Rundberg, who was part of the Kick-off for UiT's Center for Arctic Humanities with LEAGUS in 2024. The walk concluded at the Student Chaplaincy with Espen Dahl in the Quiet Room before ending at Café Bodega. Read more. Watch the video here. (LM)

26.09.2025:

Worlding Northern Art med Pikene på broen

In the fall of 2024, Worlding Northern Art (WONA) established a collaboration with Pikene på broen in Kirkenes, which resulted in eight WONA members participating in the Barents Spektakel 2025. There, WONA organised the panel discussion "Remote Control: How do Biennales foster resilience at remote locations?" as a prelude to the research group's newly initiated research project. Additionally, WONA members participated in several conversations and a panel related to the festival exhibition in collaboration with Biocultural Heritage in Arctic Cities: Resource for Climate Adaptation (ARCA). As part of a collaboration between Pikene på broen and Kunstpodden, two of the artist talks led by WONA members were turned into podcasts and published via Kunstpodden: Real. Arctic. and Remote Control. (HHS)

20.09.2025:

ArcHum Delegation Visits KTH for Collaborative Research Exchange

A delegation from ArcHUm visited the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory, Centre of Excellence for Anthropocene History and the KTH Future Humanities Initiative at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The two-day meeting, held on the 8th and 9th of September, aimed to foster collaboration and dialogue on ongoing and emerging humanities-driven research and research politics. The event was a joint initiative between the UiT’s Centre for Arctic Humanities (ArcHum) and KTH’s Division for History of Science, Technology and Environment. This visit marks a significant step in strengthening ties between UiT and KTH, paving the way for future joint initiatives and research endeavours. Read more. (LM)

20.09.2025:

ARcTic Sustain in MishMash: Norway's Center for AI and Creativity

The research group ARcTic Sustain at UiT plays a central role in the development, leveraging its experience in artistic research, interdisciplinary projects, and a northern perspective on sustainability, art, and technology. The research group is a partner in MishMash – the Center for AI and Creativity, which has received a significant national grant of 120 million NOK over eight years to develop new knowledge and practices at the intersection of art, technology, and society. The center is being established as a national meeting place for research, artistic development, and innovation within artificial intelligence. (JAD)

20.08.2025:

Humanities research on Statsraad Lehmkuhl

During autumn 2025, UiT The Arctic University of Norway arranges the student course Arctic Future Pathfinders – A journey through the Northwest Passage. First part of the course was held onboard SS Statsraad Lehmkuhl as a part of the One Ocean Expedition. Research librarian Cornel Borit was part of the scientific staff at the sailing ship, where he taught the information literacy section. Bringing a collection of books and journal articles on board, Borit helped students use this literature as a basis for reflection on past and future, from Leiv Eriksson’s explorations in the Middle Ages to scenarios informed by Indigenous art and traditions. The floating library was stored in a special closet and was accessible 24 hours a day. During and outside of their shifts, students and staff had the opportunity to explore these works, which will support their scientific research in the field. (PPA/CB)

20.07.2025:

Urban Transformation in a Warming Arctic (UrbTrans) soon completed

The project "Urban Transformation in a Warming Arctic (UrbTrans)" is funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation and the Research Council of Norway and aimed to understand the workings and nature of Nordic colonialism, particularly in the context of Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland. The team, led by human geographer Tone Huse, explores the connections between urbanism, colonialism, and decolonization. They adop a radical interdisciplinary approach, involving several researchers and artists with diverse backgrounds, and collaborate with the University of Greenland, the National Museum and Archives of Kalaallit Nunaat, Nuuk Local Museum, AHO School of Architecture and Design in Oslo, the University of Oslo, and Perspektivet Museum in Tromsø. The research methods included interviews, observation, and archival studies. You can read more about the project here (TH).

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20.06.2025:

New UArctic Thematic Network in the Environmental Humanities

The UiT Environmental Humanities Research Group put forward a new Thematic Network that was presented at the UArctic Assembly Meeting 6th to 9th June in Inari, Sapmi, Finland. There, at Sajos, the Sámi parliament in Finland, the network was wholeheartedly approved – so now the hard work starts. With partners in Finland, Sweden, Canada, the USA, the UK, and of course Norway, the network has a broad international focus. The official UArctic website will be launched soon. (KM)

20.05.2025:

ArcHum BiP in Lund

ArcHum coordinated a Blended Intensive Programme (BiP) on 'Integrating Art and Culture into Education and Research' with our ERASMUS+ and EUGLOH partners, the University of Porto and Lund University. The program consisted of workshops led by each university, highlighting different approaches to using art and culture in research, education, and dissemination. The delegation from UiT included 12 technical, administrative, and academic staff who participated in five days of inspiring presentations, lectures, co-creative workshops, tours of Lund's museums, collections, and botanical garden. The purpose of the entire week was to strengthen the connections between the participating staff and to learn together how universities can use artistic and creative practices, museums, cultural institutions, and archives as essential infrastructure for innovation, creativity, and critical thinking. More information here. (LM)

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20.04.2025:

Multi-species perspectives on environmental and cultural sustainability in the Arctic

Sustainable Multispecies Relations in the Arctic (SPECIES) is a project to research and impact environmental and cultural sustainability in the Arctic from a multi-species perspective. It explores seven conflicts surrounding iconic Arctic species in three representative countries: 1) Reindeer and King crabs in Norway; 2) Lapland cattle and Baltic seals in Finland; and 3) Polar bears and Muskoxen in Greenland. In each case, we bring together several researchers from diverse fields (anthropology, biology, ecology, technology studies, genetics, audio-visual art) and put them in dialogue with local and/or indigenous stakeholders connected to each site. The interdisciplinary research project has been awarded 24 million NOK from NordForsk and is connected to EA:RTH. Ethnographic Action: Researching Transformations of Humans and Environment on a Disrupted Planet. (RF)

20.04.2025:

Arctic Auditories in Seoul

Arctic Auditories presented their work at the conference Audible Futures: Media, Ecology, and Art in Seoul, April 28th-29th 2025. The third international event at Hanyang University’s campus was asking what the future of sound might bring – politically, ecologically, technically and creatively and in the intersections of those realms. In a session on Acoustic Ecologies and Sonic Interventions the Tromsø-based resarch group asked how to make space for the imaginaries of otherwise possibilities that beings carry with them. You can read more on the project's blog Arctic Auditories – Hydrospheres in the High North. (KL)

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20.03.2025:

Third UiT Kven Seminar

For the third consecutive year, UiT hosted the Kven Seminar, bringing together researchers and scholars with a shared interest in Kven culture and language. The seminar, held on March 18–19, 2025, in Alta, was organised by the UiT network for research and knowledge development on Kven topics. It provided a platform for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across disciplines. The event featured presentations on Kven history, education, and cultural heritage, as well as discussions on reconciliation and the role of museums in minority representation. Participants included researchers and educators, museum professionals, language center representatives, and graduate students. Organized by the Kven network at UiT, the seminar continues to strengthen research and education on Kven issues. For more information, visit https://uit.no/research/kven. (TKR)

20.02.2025:

New anthology from SAMFORSK

UiT's research team Research on Sámi Research and on Representation of Sámi Cultural Heritage (SamForsk) created a new anthology titled “Memory Institutions and Sámi Heritage: Decolonisation, Restitution and Rematriation in Sápmi”. The book focuses on Sápmi – the transcultural and transnational homeland of the Sámi people. It presents case studies and theoretical frameworks which explore the ways in which memory institutions such as museums, archives, and festivals participate in and guide processes of appropriation, decolonisation, and memory-making. The book has been edited by Trude Fonneland & Rossella Ragazzi and is open access available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003426318 (TF)

20.01.2025:

Animals and Humans in Norwegian Literature

How can we recognize animals' needs for a good life? How do interactions or encounters with animals affect us, and why is this relationship important in terms of how we treat animals? Those are some of the questions raised in the new book Dyr og mennesker i norsk litteratur, written by UiT professor in Nordic literature Henning Howlid Wærp who is member of the interdisciplinary research group Arctic Voices. The monograph was launched on January 21 2025 at the Perspektivet Museum in Tromsø. It explores depictions of animals in Norwegian literature from the late 1800s to the present day. (HHW)

20.12.2024:

Vintervending - Dálvejorggáldat

Friday December 20th the artistic research project «1001 Nord» as part of the Arctic Sustain research group arranged a 12-hour celebration of the Dálvejorggáldat at Skihytta in Tromsø. The projects ambition is to create alternative celebrations and other ways of understanding the ways we perform the North, as a contrast to the national celebration of the Norwegian national 2030 jubilee, away from the southern gaze. The artists created an hourly “turn” with artistic, audience participatory performances, until 10.19 Saturday 21th when the sun again started its journey towards the Tromsø horizon. The project is documented on the researchcatalogue.net. (HB)

20.11.2024:

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). (BO)

20.10.2024:

ArcHum in 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. (ASL)

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28.09.2024:

Sámi Food Systems and Reconciliation

Researchers from SAMFORSK have been awarded NOK 11.1 million by the Norwegian Research Council for their proposed project, Biebmolassi – Reconciling Sámi Food Systems. This project is rooted in and seeks to operationalize an Indigenous understanding of food systems, where food serves as a central element of culture and an important platform for reconciliation. By recognizing traditional Sámi foods as a valued part of Sámi heritage, the project aims to bridge the past with the present, acknowledging traditional Sámi foods as a valued part of Sámi culture. The research group has explored the coastal Sámi food system as part of the MÁHTUT project (2023–2026), funded by Interreg and the European Union to promote Sámi traditional knowledge, focusing on circular economy, sustainability, and food sovereignty. Led by the University of Lapland, with partners from Finland, Sweden, and Norway, MÁHTUT preserves Sámi subsistence practices like hunting, fishing, and food preservation, emphasizing seasonal circularity. (TF)

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20.09.2024:

ArcHum campus tour with Sverker Sörlin

Renowned history professor Sverker Sörlin visited UiT Tromsø in September and went on a campus tour. He was particularly satisfied with UiT’s ambitions to collaborate across boundaries of all kinds. The purpose of the campus tour was to meet different research environments at UiT that are working within the Arctic humanities. The visit gave scholars from the humanities the possibility to present their work and give a brief insight into various ongoing research projects. (LM)

20.08.2024:

Vizualising Arctic Voices in Catalog

The art exhibition Visualizing Arctic Voices has been on display at the Center for Northern Peoples from July 10, 2024, to October 1, 2024. It aims to tell and explore the traces of Indigenous peoples' biographies, culture, and experiences in encounters with colonial actors through images from the Arctic (circa 1750-1930). Organised by the Arctic Voices Project in collaboration with the Riddu Riđđu Festival and RiddoDuottarMuseat the exhibition is based on five years of archival work and collaboration between researchers with Western and Indigenous backgrounds. The catalog is now available open access and in two languages, Northern Sami and English. (IH)

20.07.2024:

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. (TO)

20.06.2024:

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. (TF)

20.05.2024:

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. (PPA)

20.04.2024:

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.

20.02.2024:

Arkhum sandkasse | ArcHum Sandbox 20. og 21. februar 2024

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. (LM)

29.01.2024:

Side event chaired by ArcHum 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. (LM)

15.01.2024:

ArcHum International press release 15th of January

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06.12.2023:

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). (LM)