Introduction

Women's Narratives from the Circumpolar North is the study of narratives including letters, memoirs, autobiographies, and journals written by women from the mid-1800s to the present. These women went to, or lived over an extended period of time in, the circumpolar north, that is, in any one or more of the eight countries touched by the Arctic Circle: the United States; Canada; Greenland (Denmark); Iceland; Norway; Sweden; Finland; and Russia. The focus of these narratives ranges from exploration, settlement, adventure, and work to travel and life experiences over one or more seasons in various circumpolar places. Current theories from anthropology, history, geography, gender studies, literary studies of life writings, and indigenous and northern studies provide critical frameworks for studying relevant narratives, rendering the study interdisciplinary. Meanings of "north" to indigenous women and to white women over time are explored. In considering reasons why white women ventured north, the study reveals contrasts between the women's expectations and the realities that they confronted. By beginning with narratives by Inuit and Sami women, the study confronts post- and neo-colonial attitudes and, at the same time, emphasizes the indigenous people's original occupancy of the circumpolar north. The study answers questions regarding women's reasons for going north, their contributions to evolving northern cultures, and changing attitudes towards intercultural relations and nordicity.

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are fourfold. The course provides you the opportunity to

1. develop critical-thinking strategies for consideration of the intersection of gender and culture in exploration, settlement, adventure, work, and travel in the circumpolar north.
2. consider the meaning of north from various perspectives and the expectations and realities of the north for women who have gone north over time.
3. examine changes in identification of the landscape and people of the circumpolar north over time.
4. apply theories of orality, autobiography, travel writing, and life writing to relevant narratives by women of the circumpolar north.

Online Activities

This course requires students to contribute electronically to discussion items and other online activities that the course professor has posted. Further details are included in the Course Guide.

Student Evaluation

To receive credit for this course, you must participate in, and submit weekly contributions to, online student discussions; moderate one online student discussion; and submit three writing assignments. You are also expected to state two topic preferences, corresponding to two of the course's weeks of study, for moderating an online discussion. You must achieve a final mark of at least 60 per cent to pass this course successfully.

The MAIS grading system is available online at the MAIS home page. Please note that it is your responsibility to maintain your program status. Any student who receives a grade of "F" in one course or a grade of "C" in more than one course may be required to withdraw from the program.

The participation and weighting of each required activity are as follows:

Course Materials

The course materials for Global Studies 653: Women's Narratives from the Circumpolar North include the items listed below. If any items are missing from your course package, please contact the Course Materials Production department at Athabasca University as soon as possible. You may call Athabasca University, toll free, from anywhere in Canada or the United States at 1-800-788-9041 and ask to speak to someone in Course Materials Production (ext. 6366). Students in the Edmonton and Calgary dialing areas are asked to call the Learning Centres to connect with the automated attendant, and then dial the four-digit extension. You may send e-mail to cmat@athabascau.ca, or write to Course Materials Production at Tim Byrne Centre, 4001 Hwy 2 South, Athabasca AB T9S 1A4.

Textbooks

• Briggs, Jean L. Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970.
• Diebitsch-Peary, Josephine. My Arctic Journal: A Year Among Ice-fields and Eskimos. New York and Philadelphia: The Contemporary Publishing Company, 1893.
• Ehrlich, Gretel. This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.
• Jason, Victoria. Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak: One Woman's Journey through the Northwest Passage. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1995.
• MacLaren, I. S., and Lisa N. LaFramboise, eds. The Ladies, the Gwich'in, and the Rat: Travels on the Athabasca, Mackenzie, Rat, Porcupine, and Yukon Rivers in 1926. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1998.
• Murie, Margaret E. Two in the Far North. Illustrated by Olaus J. Murie. 2d ed. Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, 1978.
• Ross, W. Gillies. This Distant and Unsurveyed Country: A Woman's Winter at Baffin Island, 1857-1858. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997.
• Wachowich, Nancy, in collaboration with Apphia Agalakti Awa, Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak, and Sandra Pikujak Katsak. Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999.

Athabasca University materials

Course Guide: The Course Guide provides essential information about the course design, course materials, and procedures you should follow to complete this course successfully. The "Study Guide" section of the Course Guide contains the week-by-week instructions and required readings, assignments, and activities. Take time to review the entire Course Guide so that you have an overview of what will be required of you.

Reading File: The Reading File contains selected articles from various sources that are required reading for this course.

Digital Reading File: Online texts and articles for this course, available through Athabasca University Library, are listed on the Global Studies 653 "Digital Reading File," linked to the course home page.

Forms: The forms you will need to submit assignments or to inform the University of a change in status as a student are included with the course materials.

Athabasca University Library: Students are encouraged to browse the Library's Web site to review the Library collection of journal databases, electronic journals, and digital reference tools: http://library.athabascau.ca.