In the spring CU Boulder will become only the fourth higher education institute in the nation to offer an arctic studies program, providing students with expertise on a long-neglected region gaining geopolitical importance due to climate change and its impacts.
The Northern Lights over the Arctic.
“This is a very large area of the world in the midst of very rapid changes that will reverberate around the globe,” says geography Professor Mark Serreze, who will offer a new undergraduate course, Introduction to Arctic Climate and the Environment, as part of the program.
Available to undergraduates of any major, the interdisciplinary, six-course (18 credit) Arctic studies certificate program will explore everything from the scope of and science behind the loss of snow and ice cover in the Arctic to the way it’s impacting indigenous peoples and global trade routes. Students will also study the rich cultural history of the region, from the sculptures and printmaking of the Inuit, to the contemporary music of Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork, to the film and photography inspired by visitors to the region.