U of S partners with Norwegian university to offer international grad program
- Fraser Needham | September 10, 2015
The University of Saskatchewan has partnered with a post-secondary institution in Scandinavia as part of offering a graduate program focusing on cross-cultural northern governance.
The university’s International Centre for Northern Governance and Development has joined forces with The Arctic University of Norway to offer an international masters degree in Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous areas.
The crux of the new graduate program is to allow students to research the unique northern and Indigenous models of governance used by each country.
The northern part of Norway is populated by the Indigenous Sami peoples.
In English, they are sometimes referred to as Laplanders.
As part of the program, students at both universities will have the opportunity to travel to the other country as part of their research.
“The whole idea of the program is to teach young professionals in both governance and development,” ICNGD director Ken Coates says. “How do you administer public affairs and how do you focus on economic development that is sustainable and prosperous for the region? And to do so in an international, comparative sense.”
Coates adds ICNGD does have partnerships with universities in Sweden, Russia and Finland but they have gone further down this path with Norway.
“Tromso (Norwegian university) is probably the leading circumpolar university in the world and they are particularly interested in international engagement.”
The MA program is part time and two years in length.
As part of their studies, the students will spend a total of 10 days in the other country.
Coates says at top capacity the program will have about 28 students – 14 at each university.
Part of the travel costs of the U of S students will be covered by a $775,000 grant provided by Cameco Corporation to ICNGD.
The grant provides funding for 12 graduate students per year for five years.
It can be accessed both by students in the Masters in Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous areas and Masters in Northern Governance and Development programs.
Cameco does not have any operations in Norway but company senior vice-president Alice Wong says they want to give ICNGD students as much opportunity as possible to enrich their studies in northern governance.
“I think it’s just great that they can learn about governance and development and apply it from Norway in Saskatchewan,” she says. “I think they have some similar challenges, so it’s just great that they get that experience as well.”
The International Centre for Northern Governance and Development was established in 2009.
It studies such things as governance, health and social development, innovation and economic development in northern communities.
The Masters in Northern Governance and Development is the largest and most comprehensive program in Canada that focuses on provincial northern territories.
The masters in Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous areas commenced this fall.
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