Colony, Empire, Environment: A Comparative International History of Twentieth Century Arctic Science (CEE)
“Colony, Empire, Environment” will produce a comparative international history of changing conceptions of the Arctic landscape, its scope ranging from science to art. It will yield greatly improved understanding of Arctic scientific research during the twentieth century and new insights into the shifting meaning and significance of the northern landscape, as colonial domination was replaced by Cold War military activities and ultimately increased native autonomy.
Project Leader: Ronald E. Doel, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA
Principal Investigators:
• Urban Wråkberg, Barents Institute, Kirkenes, Norway [deputy PL]
• Christopher Jacob Ries, Roskilde University, Denmark
• Sverker Sörlin, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
• Suzanne Zeller, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Associated Partners:
• Michael Bravo, University of Cambridge
• Robert Marc Friedman, University of Oslo, Norway
• Karin Granqvist, University of Tromsø, Norway
• Julia Lajus, European University at St. Petersburg / St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Science, Russia
Further information:
Barents Institute
Home, Hearth, and Household in the Circumpolar North (HHH)
HHH aims to demonstrate the special dynamics of northern households. How residential patterns in the North have a long-term time signature? How the use of portable lodges contributes to a uniquely northern narrative? Through the study of space, vernacular architecture, and household dynamics we will identify similarities and differences in the way that northerners interrelate with their landscape.
Project Leader: David Anderson, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
Principal investigators:
• Charles Arnold, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Canada
• Per Axelsson, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
• Hugh Beach, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
• Petri Halinen, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Mika Lavento, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Patricia Nietfeld, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland, USA
• Gerald Oetelaar, University of Calgary, Canada
• Bjørnar Olsen, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
• John Ziker, Boise State University, Boise, USA
Associated Partner:
• Robert Wishart, University of Aberdeen, UK
Further information:
HHH website
Moved by the State: Perspectives on Relocation and Resettlement in the Circumpolar North (MOVE)
"Moved by the state” refers to the commonality of having to cope with relocations and other population movements triggered by outside decisions. The results of this research will become increasingly relevant in the ongoing negotiations between states and communities about location and relocation in the face of increasing social and climate change.
Project Leader: Peter Schweitzer, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
Principal Investigators:
• Yvon Csonka, University of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland
• Timothy Heleniak, University of Maryland, USA
• Florian Stammler, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
• Elena Khlinovskaya Rockhill, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Further information:
MOVE website
New Religious Movements in the Russian North: Competing Uses of Religiosity after Socialism (NEWREL)
NEWREL will document for the first time the complex topography of new religious movements in the Russian North. It aims to improve understanding of the contemporary religious landscape and to investigate the interweaving of practices and representations across cultures in a complex society. NEWREL will bring a new light on the dynamics of religious change among contemporary Arctic and sub-Arctic communities, covering various forms of neo-shamanism and New-Age spiritualities, evangelical Christian movements, revival of Russian Orthodoxy etc.
Project Leader: Patty Gray, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
Principal Investigators:
• David Koester, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
• Art Leete, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
• Anna-Leena Siikala, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Associated Partners:
• Tatiana Bulgakova, Alexander I. Herzen, State Pedagogical University of Russia, St Petersburg, Russia
• Alexander Panchenko, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
• Patrick Plattet, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA
• Sergey Shtyrkov, European University at St Petersburg, St Petersburg, Russia
• Virginie Vaté, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle / Saale, Germany
Further information:
NEWREL website
Northern Narratives: Social and Geographical Accounts from Norway, Iceland, and Canada (NORSAGA)
NORSAGA recognizes that economies, cultural traditions, and lifestyles in boreal landscapes are intrinsically closely bound to the environment. Within this context, the focus of the project will be on histories, narratives and movements in northerly regions, specifically on mountainous and coastal areas in three countries: Norway, Iceland, and Canada. The study will enhance understanding of perceptions of environmental changes, impacts and adaptations in these regions over the last 300 years. Historical and literary analyses will be combined with sociological methodologies and advanced laboratory analyses of climate proxy data and natural archives.
Project Leader: Astrid Ogilvie, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Principal Investigators:
• Níels Einarsson, Stefansson Artic Institute, Akureyri, Iceland
• Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
• William Patterson, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Associated Partners:
• Gaston Demarée, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium
• Brian Hill, Institute for Ocean Technology, St. Johns, Canada
• Jeffrey Rogers, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
• Peter Wadhams, University of Cambridge, UK
Change and the environment in Nordic prehistory: Evidence from Finland and northern Canada (SCENOP)
SCENOP will seek to identify regularities and differences in human responses to rapid environmental change in prehistory in two widely separated but environmentally comparable circumpolar paleo-estuaries, the Yli-Ii area of Northern Finland and the Wemindji area of James Bay in Quebec. SCENOP will examine archaeological and paleo environmental evidence of transitions in the prehistory of both regions.
Project Leader: André Costopoulos, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Principal Investigators:
• Gail Chmura, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Jari Okkonen, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland
• Ezra Zubrow, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA
Further information:
SCENOP website
Poster "Change and Continuity in the Wemindji Region"
Understanding Migration in the Circumpolar North (UMCN)
The goal of this project is to develop a better understanding of the patterns, causes and consequences of migration in the Circumpolar North through interdisciplinary and transnational comparative research. The range of different circumstances, environments, and policies analysed can assist in identifying the factors that affect peoples’ migration decisions, and consequently, help predict population movements in response to future social, economic, and environmental change in the North.
Project Leader: Lee Huskey, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, USA
Principal investigators:
• Matthew Berman, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, USA
• Birger Poppel, University of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland
• Chris Southcott, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada
Associated Partner:
• Olle Westerlund, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
