Arctic Social Sciences Program | 2001 Workshop

• Introduction
• Agenda
• Abstracts
• Summaries
• Participant List
• Organizing Committee

Dear Colleague:
In January 2001, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) organized and convened a workshop on arctic social sciences research on behalf of the NSF Arctic Social Sciences Program. Over 70 participants gathered, bringing academic arctic researchers together with social scientists based in other regions, federal and state agency scientists, and policy and decision-makers working on related issues. The workshop's format included posters, panels, and round-tables, with ample opportunities for brainstorming and informal discussions.

The goals of the January 2001 workshop were:

• to generate increased awareness of the opportunities for innovative social science research in the Arctic,
• to provide models of social science research contributions to human dimensions questions, and
• to focus attention on priority or emerging areas of arctic social science.

Key themes of the workshop included exploring interdisciplinary linkages between the social sciences, international collaboration, and the interrelationships between social and physical and biological sciences.

Small working groups focused on the themes of:

1. the role of humans in northern environmental history and pre-history;
2. institutional development in the Arctic, such as self-governance, common property management, and informal decision-making;
3. linkages between identity and socioeconomic transitions in the Arctic; and
4. traditional knowledge and the intersection between the social sciences and the humanities.

A brief summary of the working group discussions is available here.

An exciting part to the workshop was a round-table discussion about the perspectives of federal and state agencies on arctic social science research, which was organized by the Polar Research Board.

The workshop organizing committee thanks everyone who attended the workshop and the NSF Arctic Social Sciences Program for funding it. For questions about the workshop and ARCUS's work in furthering Arctic Social Sciences, contact Sue Mitchell at ARCUS by emailing sue@arcus.org or calling 907/474-1600.

We invite you to browse the ARCUS web site to learn more about the workshop, read poster and presentation abstracts.

Sincerely,
Wendy K. Warnick
Executive Director, ARCUS