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Circumpolar Studies

The North, a land of boreal forest, arctic tundra, and frozen seas, is a place of extremes. Encompassing Alaska and Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia, vast reaches of northern Russia, and the Japanese island of Hokkaido, northern regions contain a quarter of the land surface on earth, some 15 million square miles, and arctic seas that flourish with some of the richest concentrations of marine life on the planet. Today, the North is home to only one percent of the world's human population but holds resources and wildlands essential to all of humankind.

More than ever, skilled professionals are needed to monitor, protect, and care for this fragile part of the planet. Circumpolar Studies provides an ideal discipline for rigorous research in a pristine but also imperiled environment. Often called the last frontier, where wolves run with undulating herds of caribou, the region is being stripped of its mineral resources, and irresponsible development threatens to further this destruction. Indigenous people and traditional folkways face the pressures of industrial society and tourism. Although the polar regions have been commercially important for hundreds of years, it is only recently that a general recognition of the potential economic significance has come about. Now, major discoveries and development in northern regions increasingly impact the economy of the industrialized nations of the world.

Sterling College’s Circumpolar Studies major combines research in all aspects of the circumpolar North while promoting a broad understanding of the diverse people, cultures, and history of the region. Courses in Polar fauna and flora, Winter Ecology, Indigenous Peoples, and Literature and Film of the North combine to build a solid basis for evaluating future development of the North.

Graduates in Circumpolar Studies may work for the National Parks Service protecting habitat, NGOs advocating for native peoples, or educational organizations informing the public about northern issues. Through internships in remote areas ranging from Alaska to Mongolia, and including a comprehensive practical application of learning through the Senior Applied Research Project, students gain a first-hand knowledge of and inclusion into the community of scholars and activists leading the protection and preservation of the North over against ever-encroaching pressures of development from the modern, industrialized world.

Recent Internship Sites
Alaska Center for the Environment, AK
Island Nature Trust, Prince Edward Island
Musk Ox Development Corporation, AK
Ocean Services Center, New Bruswick
USGS Pacific Northwest Research Station, AK
Saskatchewan Conservation Data Center

Degree Requirements

The Faculty recommends that students choose related electives in the humanities and social sciences—courses that will prepare students to use integrative approaches in their Senior Applied Research Projects and beyond.