HIS-3005 History of Indigenous Peoples - Indigenous people, ethnic minorities and the multi-cultural society in the North - 10 stp

The course is offered to history and teacher training students at Master's level, to students at the Master's programme in Indigenous Studies and is appropriate for master students in other social science, law studies and humanities disciplines.

The course can be taken as a singular course.

The course presents the history of the Sami people in a chronological way from the Middle Ages to the political revival of indigenous peoples during the second half of the 20th century. The historical events and their significance are used to discuss theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects related to the history of indigenous peoples. The course literature addresses also the major problems in the historical scholarship on the Sami people.

The course brings insights into the development of multi-cultural societies in North-Western Europe and the complex relationships between indigenous peoples, minorities and the nation-state. The course ends by focusing on the development of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups` revival movements at the local, national and global level.

Academic prerequisites:

Bachelor's degree with a specialization of at least 80 credits in history or other social science field (ref. Admission requirement for Master's degree in history), with an average grad C (2,5) or better. The course is also open to students who meet the admission requirements for the master level of other humanities and social sciences.

The students will have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student will:

• have advanced knowledge on central events in the history of the Sami from the Middle Ages to the present day
• have thorough knowledge on historical events and developments that have affected the Sami people and understanding of the nature of changes and continuities in indigenous peoples’ contexts
• have knowledge of the historians’ approaches to the history of the Sami people and the major problems they have encountered
• be able to apply analytical concepts, categories and definitions relevant for studying the complex relations between indigenous peoples, minorities and the nation-state in academic research on the basis of the history, traditions and the distinctive character of historical scholarship

Skills

The students will be able to:

• formulate, discuss and analyse historical problems related to indigenous peoples according to methodological and ethical conventions in historical scholarship
• analyse and deal critically with historical evidence and historical scholarship on indigenous peoples and the complex relationship between indigenous peoples, other ethnic groups and the nation state
• analyse and work independently on problems related to theoretical approaches and analytical conceptualisations of ethnicity, ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples in different historical contexts and settings

To achieve the central learning targets, the course will have multiple teaching approaches; lectures, discussions, and collective and individual guidance.

All courses will be evaluated once during the period of the study program. The study program director decides which courses will be evaluated by students and teacher each year.