Arctic World Politics, Master of Social Sciences (2 yrs)

About this programme

Why is the Arctic so central to world politics today? Is it simply a new arena of great-power rivalry and militarisation, where climate change opens up shipping routes and natural resources to be contested? Or is it also a place that can challenge such framings: home to histories, knowledges, aspirations and worldviews that help us imagine a more sustainable and just world? In Arctic World Politics, you learn to take both questions seriously. Grounded in cutting-edge research and Arctic societies, the programme teaches you to critically analyse key issues in contemporary world politics through multidisciplinary and planetary perspectives, local-to-global connections and Indigenous knowledges. Combining Politics and International Relations, Law, Indigenous Studies, Environmental Studies and Arctic Anthropology, we pay particular attention to whose experiences and knowledges are valued in research and policymaking, and for what purposes that knowledge is used. Questions of security and militarisation, approached broadly and from critical perspectives, are a recurring theme across several courses. Teaching is organised jointly by the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Arctic Centre and the Faculty of Law. Over two years, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of Arctic world politics and develop the expertise and critical thinking needed to address the complex challenges shaping global change today and in the years ahead. Arctic World Politics is a master's programme unlike any other in the world, offered only at the University of Lapland. Here you will not only study the Arctic but also live in it. The programme is closely embedded in the university's Arctic research community: you are taught by active researchers, learn alongside doctoral and postdoctoral scholars, and take part in seminars and events where new research is presented and debated. Your studies culminate in a Master's Thesis, which allows you to develop your expertise further on a topic of your own choosing.