“A Multimethod and Interdisciplinary Approach to Educating Postsecondary Students on Arctic Challenges and Governance”

Abstract

Challenges to the Arctic region abound and intersect. Warming, ice and permafrost melting, and pollution jeopardize health and food security of Indigenous and other Northern communities. Problems related to natural resource extraction and shipping are developing. Because these issues cross sovereign boundaries, they must be addressed multilaterally. The Arctic Council is the principal forum in which Arctic states and Indigenous groups address shared concerns in the region. We co-administered a five-day program on science and diplomacy in the Arctic at Dartmouth College in June 2017 to educate postsecondary students on Arctic challenges and governance, foster skills and confidence related to leadership and diplomacy, and inspire civic action in Arctic and international affairs. The program consisted of lectures, discussions, a teamwork and collaboration exercise, a negotiation workshop, and a Model Arctic Council (MAC)—a simulation of delegates’ work in the Arctic Council. We found that students had strongly positive perceptions of the curriculum and felt that they accrued Arctic-related awareness and skills, while developing enthusiasm for engaging in civic affairs. Students attributed the program’s value to the use of multiple pedagogies, especially simulation, an interdisciplinary environment, and mentorship from and engagement with Arctic Council and other practitioners.

Keywords:

• Interdisciplinarity; Model Arctic Council; multiple pedagogies; science diplomacy; simulation

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our program co-organizers Melody Brown Burkins and Leah Sarson at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College; the funding agency the Dickey Canada Institute Endowment; the hosting institution Dartmouth College; consultants Joshua Glasser and Ann Meceda at the U.S. Department of State; advisor and mentor Edward Alexander of the Gwich’in Council International; negotiation workshop facilitator Sean Nolon; lecturers Mary Albert, Donna Roberts Moody, Elizabeth Rom, Gabrielle Slowey, Ross Virginia, Kah Walla, Tina Woods, and Oran Young; and program photographer Lee McDavid.

Notes

1 The eight Arctic Council Member States are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The six Arctic Council Permanent Participants are the Aleut International Association (AIA), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), Gwich’in Council International (GCI), Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), and Saami Council (SC).

2 The six Arctic Council Working Groups are the Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP); Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP); Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF); Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR); Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME); and Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG).

3 The latter two agreements have not been ratified by all Member States and thus have not yet entered into force.

4 Students do not earn academic credit for their participation in the program, although we provide certificates of completion.

5 These included anthropology, Arctic studies, biology, business management, ecology, economics, education, engineering, environmental science, geography, glaciology, health studies, history, Indigenous studies, international relations, law, oceanography, physics, political science, psychology, public policy, and sustainable development.

6 Students’ universities included Carleton University, Dartmouth College, Durham University, McMaster University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queen’s University, Trent University, United States Coast Guard Academy, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Northern British Columbia, University of Tübingen, University of Washington, and Yale University. Two students came to the program through a separate international collaboration between Dartmouth College and their universities.

7 We wish to acknowledge Joshua Glasser of the U.S. State Department for his guidance in selecting this emphasis.

8 Two of the 25 participants had to leave the program early and thus were not able to complete the survey.

9 Unless otherwise noted, the Likert scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandon M. Boylan

Brandon Boylan is Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of Arctic & Northern Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). His research interests include international security, political violence, terrorism, ethnic conflict, and separatist movements. His research has been published in International Public Management Journal, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Journal of Common Market Studies, International Studies Perspectives, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Nations and Nationalism, and Civil Wars, among others. His collaborative projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Norwegian Center for International Cooperation in Education. He teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in international relations, comparative politics, and research methods. He is faculty advisor for UAF’s Model United Nations organization and co-leads the Model Arctic Council initiative. He holds a PhD in International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mary F. Ehrlander

Mary Ehrlander is Co-Director of Arctic & Northern Studies and Professor of History at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). She teaches classes on Northern history and current socioeconomic and political issues in the Circumpolar North. She co-leads the UArctic Model Arctic Council Thematic Network. Ehrlander has published on equity in public education; Alaska history topics, the history of alcohol cultures, problems and policies in the Circumpolar North; and sexual violence in the North. Recently she published the biography of the Irish-Athabascan man who in 1913 was the first person to summit Denali, North America’s tallest mountain: Walter Harper, Alaska Native Son (University of Nebraska Press, 2017). She holds a PhD in Government from the University of Virginia.

Troy J. Bouffard

Troy Bouffard is Instructor of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He retired from the U.S. Army in 2010 and became a defense contractor in support of the U.S. Northern Command and the Alaskan Command concerning Arctic operational and regional security issues. He is currently a Research Fellow with the Center for Defense and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is currently working on an interdisciplinary PhD focusing on Russia’s Arctic strategic military developments. Recent publications include a chapter in Breaking the Ice Curtain? (with Andrea Charron and Jim Fergusson) and articles in the 2017 and 2018 Arctic Yearbook.