Free online course exploring northern Quebec to launch in English this fall

The Institut Nordique du Québec, made up of Université Laval, McGill University and Quebec’s national institute for scientific research (INRS), will offer an English version of its seven-unit online course on northern Quebec politics and social development, which runs from October to early December. (IMAGE COURTESY OF LAVAL U)

A free online course exploring the social and political issues in Nunavik and northern Quebec will be offered once again this fall—this time in English.

The seven-session program, called “Northern Quebec: Issues, Spaces and Cultures,” was developed through the Institut Nordique du Québec, made up of three Quebec universities: Université Laval, McGill University and Quebec’s national institute for scientific research, or INRS.

The massive online course, or MOOC, was delivered to some 3,300 students in French this past spring. It’s now been translated and will be offered in English next month.

“What we wanted to do was give a voice to northerners,” said Thierry Rodon, a Laval university professor who holds the research chair for sustainable development in the North.

The program builds on material already taught at Laval, but also includes perspectives of Nunavik’s elected officials and project leaders like Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services director Minnie Grey, Makivik executives Andy Moorhouse and Adamie Delisle-Alaku and other community representatives.

The curriculum also relies on the expertise of well-known academics such as linguist and anthropologist Louis-Jacques Dorais and sociologist Gérard Duhaime, who worked for many years in Quebec’s North.

The course is delivered in seven modules, which focus on the Indigenous people of Quebec’s North—Inuit, Cree and Innu—northern development and regional governance.

The free and open format of a MOOC allows universities to show their expertise to a wider audience. In the course, students can work independently through the modules or units, but can also interact through an online forum.

The program is designed to reach students across Quebec and the world.

You can watch a promotional video for the program here.

The MOOC runs from Oct. 10 to Dec. 4. Coordinators suggest that students set aside about four hours a week to take part.

You can register here for the course.