spring 2025
STV-3020 Indigenous Peoples - Politics, Institutions and Tools - 5 ECTS
Type of course
The course is mandatory for students at the Master¿s Programme in Indigenous Studies (MIS).
The course may also be part of other disciplinary master programmes within social sciences and may be taken as a single course. Prior knowledge of the situation for indigenous peoples are highly recommended.
Admission requirements
General admission requirements: Admission to requires a bachelor's degree (180 ECTS), or an equivalent qualification, with a minimum of 80 ECTS within social sciences, humanities, education or the social practice of law.
- Applicants with a Norwegian study background need an average minimum grade of C or better from the bachelor's degree to be admitted to the master's program.
- Applicants who hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent issued in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand need an average grade of C or better on the ECTS scale.
- Applicants who hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent issued in countries other than the above mentioned must have an average grade of B or better on the ECTS scale.
Specific academic requirements: A special interest in Indigenous issues is a precondition. Experience from work related to Indigenous peoples and/ or studies will be an advantage.
The course requires solid competence in reading and writing English.
Application code: 9371.
Course content
The course departs from the current debate over indigenous peoples¿ possibilities for self-determination within nation states. The Sami people in Norway serve as a point of departure for the focus on indigenous institutions, like parliaments, consultations and other tools for decision-making between indigenous peoples and nation state authorities, and tools indigenous peoples can use in interaction with market actors. The course consist of three sections. The first is on indigenous peoples¿ political challenges, and how international law prescribe indigenous participation and involvement vis a vis the nation state and how national regulations attempt to implement these commitments. A second part look at challenges for management of land and water, and how indigenous peoples work with challenges facing their traditional livelihoods, like tensions between these and industrial development. The third part provides an in-depth focus on institutionalization of indigenous self-determination by scrutinizing the model of the Sami parliament while simultaneously addressing the differences in institutional development in the Nordic countries.Objectives of the course
The students have the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge
The student gets knowledge about
- important debates on indigenous rights and politics, in particular relating to land and resources, self-determination and culture;
- how various colonial histories and different systems of government influence and define state-indigenous relations and conditions for self-determination arrangements.
Skills
The student knows how to
- critically examine indigenous rights claims from the foundations of both international law and domestic legal and political developments
- distinguish between how different country contexts impact debates on indigenous rights issues and political questions
Information to incoming exchange students
This course is available for inbound exchange students.
This course is open for inbound exchange student who meets the admission requirements. Please see the Admission requirements.
Do you have questions about this module? Please check the following website to contact the course coordinator for exchange students at the faculty: INBOUND STUDENT MOBILITY: COURSE COORDINATORS AT THE FACULTIES | UiT
Schedule
Recommended reading/syllabus
Pensumliste for STV-3020 Indigenous Peoples - Politics, Institutions and Tools (VÅR 2025)Examination
| Examination: | Date: | Duration: | Grade scale: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off campus exam | 31.03.2025 09:00 (Hand out) 04.04.2025 14:00 (Hand in) |
4 Days | A–E, fail F |
- About the course
- Campus: Tromsø |
- ECTS: 5
- Course code: STV-3020
- Responsible unit
- Institutt for samfunnsvitenskap
- Tidligere år og semester for dette emnet