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.
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https://ulapland.fi/en/study-with-us/apply-for-masters-programmes/#tuition-fees
"}},"maksullisuusKuvaus":{"en":"Tuition fee For non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens annually 13000 €.
"},"suunniteltuKestoKuvaus":{},"suunniteltuKestoVuodet":2,"onkoApuraha":true,"lisatiedot":[{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_01#1","nimi":{"fi":"Opintojen rakenne","sv":"Studiernas uppbyggnad","en":"Structure of studies"}},"teksti":{"en":"Arctic World Politics (120 ECTS): master's degree study structure
Core courses (50 ECTS)
Electives (20 ECTS)
Master's Thesis (50 ECTS)
The master's programme in Arctic World Politics is research-oriented and offers a good foundation for doctoral studies.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_03#1","nimi":{"fi":"Suuntautumisvaihtoehdot","sv":"Inriktningsalternativ","en":"Specialisations"}},"teksti":{"en":"You can choose 20 ECTS of electives according to your own research and study interests. Please see the structure of studies.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_09#1","nimi":{"fi":"Koulutuksen antama pätevyys","sv":"Kompetens som utbildningen ger","en":"Qualification"}},"teksti":{"en":"Having completed the programme, you will have a good understanding of the concepts and approaches that are central to the study of Arctic world politics. You will be able to use and apply them to analyse complex social and political phenomena, and to produce new knowledge with both research and policy relevance. Your specialisation in Arctic and Indigenous perspectives and knowledges, together with the international experience you gain during your studies and stay in Rovaniemi, is an advantage for positions that require Arctic or Northern expertise. Under Finnish legislation, a person who has completed the degree of Master of Social Sciences is formally qualified for posts or positions in the public sector that require a second-cycle higher education degree.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_04#1","nimi":{"fi":"Uramahdollisuudet","sv":"Karriärmöjligheter","en":"Career opportunities"}},"teksti":{"en":"The University of Lapland's multidisciplinary master's programme in Arctic World Politics is unique worldwide and opens up a wide range of career pathways for graduates in the public, private and third sectors. Expertise on the Arctic region is in high demand at national, EU and international levels, and knowledge that is grounded in, and sensitive to, local and Indigenous perspectives is considered particularly valuable. Arctic and multidisciplinary specialisation is an advantage for positions that require such expertise, but does not preclude employment in posts and positions with a broader profile. As a graduate in Arctic World Politics, you may work in national and international settings, for instance as a government official or in various expert positions in international institutions, non-governmental organisations, higher education, media, think tanks and private enterprises. The degree is research-oriented and also provides a solid foundation for a research career and doctoral studies.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_06#1","nimi":{"fi":"Kansainvälistyminen","sv":"Internationell verksamhet","en":"Internationalisation"}},"teksti":{"en":"As a student in Arctic World Politics, you will study in English as part of an international group of students, in a research and teaching environment made up of an international team of scholars with extensive experience across the circumpolar Arctic. In addition to the research community at the University of Lapland, you will benefit from the international research networks and expertise of the University of Lapland's Arctic Centre. If you wish to gain further international experience during your studies, you can, for example, take part in short-term student mobility, do an internship abroad, or become a My Global Diary Ambassador or an international tutor. Our goal is that your degree equips you with international competencies and strengthens your position in international labour markets. You will discuss your international goals with your teacher tutor and include them in your personal study plan.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_05#1","nimi":{"fi":"Yhteistyö muiden toimijoiden kanssa","sv":"Samarbete med andra aktörer","en":"Co-operation with other parties"}},"teksti":{"en":"Arctic World Politics has been selected as the University of Lapland's strategic international master's programme, distinguished by a strong research profile, high-quality research-based teaching and interdisciplinary collaboration across units. As a student in Arctic World Politics, you will be integrated early on into the university's strategic research community Arctic Change and Adaptation, and your studies will bring together research expertise from the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Arctic Centre and the Faculty of Law. In addition, you will benefit from interaction with the University of Lapland's strong Indigenous and Sámi research community, the university's new Centre of Excellence in Multibeing Justice in Indigenous Societies, and our extensive, well-established networks of collaboration with researchers and study programmes at other Arctic universities and higher education institutions, including within the frameworks of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) and the Arctic Six.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_10#1","nimi":{"fi":"Tutkimuksen painopisteet","sv":"Tyngdpunkter inom forskning","en":"Research focus"}},"teksti":{"en":"Understanding Arctic world politics requires multidisciplinary, critical approaches that connect environmental concerns with broader social and political analysis. Alongside research on global power structures and on the relations, interactions and conflicts between states, institutions and other actors, we seek to understand Arctic world politics through radically different worldviews, multispecies relations and material flows.
Arctic world politics can be examined through a wide range of topics, themes and cases. Research may explore the relations between the environment, different forms of social organisation and world politics, or the ways in which global and local processes of change are entangled and shape one another. We study, for instance, how the environment and the Anthropocene affect world politics in both theory and practice; the local and global impacts of Arctic resource extraction and infrastructure projects, and their connections to colonial pasts and presents; and the role that Indigenous knowledges and agency can play in world politics. Research may likewise examine the objectives and possibilities of Arctic cooperation; critical and decolonial approaches to Arctic geopolitics, security and militarisation; or how colonialism, gender, race and political economy shape Arctic governance.
By attending to the Arctic, we aim to develop new theoretical, conceptual and epistemological perspectives on world politics at large.
"}},{"otsikko":{"koodiUri":"koulutuksenlisatiedot_11#1","nimi":{"fi":"Opinnäytetyö","sv":"Lärdomsprov","en":"Thesis"}},"teksti":{"en":"Master’s Thesis and Thesis seminar 50 ECTS.
Students write a Master’s thesis in English about a theme in the field of Arctic World Politics agreed with the supervisor. The focus of Master's thesis work is on the second study year.
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