Award-Winning Arctic Insights
Sámi at Nalukataq
The College of Liberal Arts is proud to congratulate two outstanding graduate students whose research has earned them top recognition from the ҵ Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Varpu Lotvonen and Joseph Ransdell-Green have been awarded the CTL Outstanding Dissertation and CTL Outstanding Thesis awards, respectively—honors that speak to their deep scholarship, community engagement, and commitment to knowledge that bridges disciplines, places, and peoples.
Varpu Lotvonen, Ph.D., Anthropology, was honored for her dissertation, “Ballad of the Laablaaqs: The Relational Worlds of Sámi Reindeer Herders in Alaska.” Her work traces the transnational journeys of Sámi people—Indigenous to Sápmi in Northern Europe—who arrived in Alaska in the late 1800s as expert reindeer herders. Lotvonen explores how these herders adapted to new ecological and social environments while maintaining cultural ties to their homeland, forming enduring relational spaces that stretch between Alaska and Sápmi. Her research is both a historical and contemporary reflection, uncovering how Sámi heritage continues to resonate today, especially among descendant communities engaging through platforms like social media.
Joseph Ransdell-Green, M.A., Arctic and Northern Studies, was recognized for his thesis, “Collective Action in Marine Mammal Co-Management: Relationships as Tools of Cooperation.” Ransdell-Green’s thesis explores the dynamics of Indigenous and governmental collaboration in the co-management of marine mammal resources—an a