Grad school tip for Geographers – Summer Field School in Northern Canada

Details of an interesting summer program perhaps of interest to some geographers out there… For the past 12 years, the University of Manitoba has been running a six-week summer school in collaboration with the hamlet of Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), Nunavut, Canada.  The program offers four undergraduate courses for credit in Native Studies and Environmental Science.  Most students come from other universities across Canada or abroad. Students learn about past and present Inuit culture, language, and interaction with the environment, while living in the small community of Panniqtuuq on Baffin Island in northern Canada.  In addition to more standard lectures, we also take a week-long hunting and fishing trip “on the land” with local families.  Students participate in workshops with local elders and design their own community volunteer projects.  I’ve been both a student and an instructor on this program and I have learned so much in both capacities.  From my experience, the program provides an excellent grounding in past and present issues affecting the Canadian North — issues which are relevant to many other indigenous and northern cultures.  Students learn about topics like the seal hunt controversy, arctic climate change, and the history of colonialism in the North in a deeply personal way. There is a short video about the program here: http://www.isuma.tv/?site/displayFilm/id/765.  The official website is HERE