Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June

Exchange students and Fulbright students: 15 April  

Type of 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

The course introduces students to and provides:

• An understanding of the historical development and cultural dependence of all knowledge-systems and how they speak in favour of interdisciplinarity.
• An orientation to the challenges of good governance on Northern issues when socio-political and economic evaluations are based on the advice of too few, or many different specialists and stakeholders.
• Insights as to how to handle the risks of being superficial and missing relevant theory and crucial data in an interdisciplinary inquiry.
• Historical and contemporary illustrations of the above, found in the regions of the Euro-Arctic as well as in the Circumpolar Arctic.
• Methods of conceiving and planning interdisciplinary research and development projects.

Students will be trained in operationalising viable interdisciplinary approaches to complex issues based on case studies from the Subarctic and Arctic Regions.

Objectives of the course

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

Knowledge

• Understand the epistemological contingency and general historical dependence of all knowledge-systems, and how they motivate interdisciplinary Northern Studies.

Skills

• Detect overconfidence in too narrow a solution to complex socio-economic issues.
• Discuss, with the help of relevant literature, a reasonable scope of an interdisciplinary investigation relating to a Northern issue within a given frame of resources at the students' disposal.

General competence

• Provide academically sound standard criticism to a narrow specialism.
• Argue for an interdisciplinary approach in social, political and historical analysis.

Language of instruction

Teaching methods

Bachelor students: Mainly teacher presentations., group work and group discussions, supported by digital learning resources.

Online students: The course is composed of separate modules for online studies.  Students are required to submit answers to the individual module questions. Teaching and feedback will be given. Streamed materials will also be available.  A guideline for self-study will be provided.

Quality assurance; Before the end of every course, an evaluation of the course will be arranged in collaboration with the teacher and the student.

Assessment

Assignments:

Online students: Assignments to teacher-supplied questions.  The assignments have to be approved by the teacher(s) responsible for the course before students are allowed to sit the final exam.

Bachelor students: 3 written assignments to teacher-supplied questions.The assignments have to be approved by the teacher(s) responsible for the course before students are allowed to sit the final exam. Class attendance is obligatory (at least 75%).

Exam: 

A final term paper. Grading: scale A - F, A - E are passing grades, F is a fail.

Guidelines for retaking examination, see Regulations for examinations at the UiT, Chapter IV for Postponed, re-sit and extraordinary examinations, etc.

Recommended reading/syllabus