- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Québec/Canada (Prof. Carole Lévesque, Scientific coordinator)

 

- Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy

- Duke University, USA

This Graduate Seminar relates to different aspects of current life of Indigenous and other people in the North and in the Arctic: ecological, climatological, sociological, cultural and political. The topics will be discussed in abundantly illustrated lectures involving dialogue among scholars and Indigenous representatives.

 

Indigenous Peoples of the North and other Arctic populations are living in a world that is rapidly changing. Their way of life has traditionally been focused on natural resources and lands; however, the transformations brought about by altered environmental conditions, climate change, the modernization of transportation, industrialization, sedentarization, energy conversion, urbanization and demographic growth are profoundly affecting this relationship between human beings and the land. The proposed activity will provide a space for reflection on this changing world. We will explore the many cultural, demographic, economic, natural, sociological and anthropological dimensions of this change through case studies comparing the situation in northern Eurasia, and more specifically Russia, northern Canada and Québec, as well as elsewhere. This reflection will take the form of a Graduate Seminar. Alternating presentations of the situations in the two continents will foster group reflection on lands that are shared by Indigenous peoples, newcomers, and industries in regard to natural resources and socioeconomic issues. The juxtaposition of the similarities and differences will open the way for a discussion on the future Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in the North.

 

- Social, political and legal perspectives of Indigeneity 

- Collaborative research and co-construction of knowledge with Indigenous Peoples

- Market and non-market exchanges in Northern communities

- Cultural intimacy and the Indigenous politics of visibility in Northern Territories.

 

 Learning outcomes for participants

After attending this graduate seminar, participants will be familiar with:

- ability to think globally

- developing the capability to view processes at the system level; exploring  complex  problems with interdisciplinary approaches 

- developing an integrated and multidisciplinary epistemology

- enabling knowledge exchange

- working in group settings

- debating and targeting consensus.