Type of course

The course is an elective course for the Bachelor of Northern Studies.

The subject can be taken as a single course.

Admission requirements

Admission requirements:

Nordic applicants: Generell studiekompetanse. Admission procedures for foreign applicants, please read: https://en.uit.no/education/art?p_document_id=351800

Admission code: 9199

Course content

This course focuses on Northern politics and development, more precisely, about what people in local communities and regions of the Circumpolar North can do and do do to develop politically, socially and economically, in ways that serve their own needs and interests, and that are environmentally sustainable. Emphasis is on both the conceptual and definitional elements of core ideas in the course, such as governance, partnership and networks, and on empirical findings in studies of local and regional development.

Through participation in a R&D project focused on local and regional development, workshops and partnerships, including excursions to local communities in the region, students have the opportunity to test and evaluate in praxis governance and development theories and methods taught in the course.

The methodology used in the course is based on a comparative case study approach, in which the global, centre-periphery, and regional-local dimensions of community governance and development are fundamental.

Business and community development in Indigenous regions of the Circumpolar North is a central theme in the course.

Objectives of the course

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge:

• Explain the selection of models, methods and techniques used in local and regional development projects and processes, and their theoretical platforms.

Skills:

• Apply models through exposure to research and development work in order to update knowledge and find practical solutions to challenges or problems that the communities and regions of the Circumpolar North face.

General competence:

• Generalise and use theories, models, methods and techniques in knowledge, competence and capacity building closely related to social science disciplines and thematic fields of work, such as political science, public planning, sociology, social anthropology, economics, environmental and indigenous studies.

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

Active self-studies among students, and literature searches using different net-based tools. Paper presentations and discussions, mainly during colloquiums, workshops and seminars, group work based on case studies from the Circumpolar North.

Student involvement in the planning, execution and evaluation of an excursion to a nearby local community or municipality, in other words, an evaluation and learning workshop.

Students will write their obligatory term paper based on the course readings and input from the evaluation and learning workshop.

Quality assurance; Upon completion, students will anonymously evaluate the course.