Northern Studies - One Year Program

The World of the High North - How does life in the northernmost part of the world affect natural resources, politics, and the economy? What is unique about this region? And how can its inhabitants be best prepared for the coming century? If you want to make a difference to the peoples of this region and prefer an online study, we welcome you to this amazing interdisciplinary one-year experience. The study can be extended to a bachelor's in Northern Studies. You will see the world with new eyes. In a good way.

Program description

• Duration: 1 year 
• Credits (ECTS): 60
• Admission requirements: Higher Education Entrance Qualification and certified language requirements in English
• Degree Name: None
• Application code:
  • Norwegian and Nordic applicants: 186 202
  • International applicants: 2066

The program provides the student with a wide knowledge of northern societies, how they have shaped through historical path-dependence and in the power-fields of international relations, but also by innovative multilateral partnerships such as those fostered within e.g. the Barents Euro-Arctic Region and in the work of the Arctic Council.

The one-year program opens with Introduction to Multidisciplinary Studies, giving information on the academic standards to be met by the students in their course-work, and goes on to introduce the methodology of the interdisciplinary approach to Northern Circumpolar Studies. Through five courses; Introduction to the Circumpolar World, Peoples and Cultures of the Circumpolar World, Land and Environment of the Circumpolar World, and Contemporary Issues of the Circumpolar World (1 and 2), students are introduced to a set of basic discourses of the Subarctic and Arctic Regions. The courses give the students a basis of facts and an introduction to relevant theory from the fields of geopolitics, ecology and geosciences, social anthropology, and history geared towards northern issues. This enables the students to understand complex contemporary debates on e.g. land-uses and regional development and to start to articulate their own opinions. All courses are given online.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

• Explain current discussion on politics, culture, and the history of the Circumpolar North.
• Discuss the Circumpolar North with regards to political history and system, indigenous culture, gender issues, and the environment in a south-north perspective.
• Describe different social science research methods i.e. surveys, interviews, document analysis, and field research.
• Apply Interdisciplinary insights in contemporary discourses of the Circumpolar North: sustainable development, language, and communication, politics, peoples, and cultures.

Skills

• Explain central concepts regarding the development of circumpolar north in a center-periphery perspective, i.e devolution of power, geopolitics, identity and ethnicity, sustainable development and resource distribution, indigenous people`s history, and economy.
• Apply an interdisciplinary approach to the reality of the circumpolar north in order to describe the northern society, its cultural processes, political history, and system, land, and environment.

General competence

• Think and write analytically, present knowledge and solutions, both oral and written, on challenges in the circumpolar north.
• Explain the importance of approaching circumpolar north by the use of an interdisciplinary approach rather than by narrow specialism

Program structure

Admission requirements

Higher Education Entrance Qualification and certified language requirements in English.

A list of the requirements for the Higher Education Entrance Qualification in Norway can be found on the web site from the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT). For language requirements, we refer to NOKUT's GSU-list.

Applicants from Norway or Nordic countries:

• The application deadline for Norwegian and other Nordic applicants is April 15th for admission to the autumn semester.
• Online application, study code 9502.

Applicants from outside the Nordic countries:

• The application deadline for self-financing applicants is December 1st for admission to the autumn semester.
• Online application, study code 2066.

Teaching and assessment

In order to reach the goals of learning outcomes, students are expected to work about 40 hours a week (1500-1600 hours for a year of full-time study), including lectures, seminars, group work, and self-study.

The program is offered on-line. Courses are delivered by our web-platform. The courses consist of written lectures, streamed modules, and readings. In addition, face-to-face teaching and interactivity between students and between students and lecturers via Microsoft Teams/Zoom is a relevant part of the teaching. Student`s course-work includes weekly responses to module questions prepared by the lecturer for each module lecture. The candidate will hand in module answers as a written essay or an oral presentation via Canvas, Microsoft Teams/Zoom, or Skype, and the tutor in charge will evaluate and comment on it on an individual basis.

Access to further studies

It is possible to apply for admission to Bachelor of Northern Studies and get recognition for the one year program in Northern Studies as the first year of the Bachelor of Northern Studies. The one year program in Northern Studies is similar to the first year of the Bachelor of Northern Studies.