Olga Ulturgasheva, the Canadian Studies Pathy Distinguished Visitor and visiting professor in the Humanities Council, is using her life’s research and lived experience to introduce students to Indigenous knowledge and the ways in which Circumpolar populations experience, perceive and respond to environmental, political, and socio-economic changes.
This spring, the renowned social scientist is teaching “Pluriversal Arctic,” an undergraduate course that explores the complex interconnections of climate, environment, and society.
“I’m trying to show this alternative vision, perhaps change a little bit of something within these students, to see the environment not as something to control, tame or modify, but as something that without which, humans cannot survive,” said Ulturgasheva, in a story featured on the University homepage.
Since 2006, Ulturgasheva—a member of the Eveny reindeer herding community in northeastern Siberia—has engaged in international research projects exploring human and non-human personhood, youth resilience, climate change, and adaptation patterns in Siberia, the American Arctic, and Amazonia.
