Consul of the Consulate General of Canada Brian Shipley talking at the Arctic Expedition Symposium. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

In addition to the 50 people who attended UND’s first Arctic Expedition Symposium in person Friday, others from Iceland, Canada and other countries tuned in over the Internet for the event. The event was coordinated by the UND College of Arts and Sciences and the Consulate General of Canada.

The Canadian Arctic Expedition symposium celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 1913 exhibition lead by UND alumnus Vilhjalmur Stefansson. The expedition led to the discovery of previously unknown islands, collections of photographs, specimen and artifacts. It also established an important and long-lasting relationship with Northern communities.

The symposium brought representatives from North Dakota legislative offices and supporters of the consulate.

The symposium was held in the Center for Innovation, located in the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center.

The entire symposium was live-streamed online and took comments and questions from Twitter. A brief video conference also took place with an individual in the arctic Canadian territory, Nunavut.

“This is the first time we’ve ever had an event like this … in terms of trying to have the right technology, this will be broadcast (live) streaming,” geography professor Doug Munski said. “This room is specifically designed for that.

“The other part is this is the entrepreneur center and the notion is bringing young people together from campus to interact with folks from off campus.”

The conference began with an exhibition, followed by opening addresses from Vice President for Student Affairs Susan Walton, North Dakota Senators Heidi Heitkamp and John Hoeven, and Peter Bjornson, Minister of Housing and Community Development for the province of Manitoba.

“This conference was truly groundbreaking in so many aspects,” Timothy Pasch, Assistant Professor of Communications said. “The UND libraries created an absolutely stunning, museum-quality display of Stefansson’s original works and artifacts.”

The symposium began with speaker David Gray presenting the origins and legacy of Vilhjalmur Stefansson and the Arctic Expedition. The following discussion, presented by Munski and Grand Forks Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs, outlined the Icelandic migration to North Dakota and the stories of Stefansson. Famed polar explorer Will Steger’s presentation reflected on Stefansson’s influences on his own similar expeditions.

“Our students in Canadian studies, have an opportunity to hear first hand (from) distinguished explorers like Will Steger. (They) have an opportunity to learn more about how transitions have occurred in the Arctic with the changing ethnography,” Munski said. “Mr. Steiger has remarkable things to say about polar conditions today compared to what Stefansson went through 100 years ago, and it has a lot of impact for us in terms of global climatic change.”

The discussion continued with Pasch’s presentation on the convergent new media strategy, highlighting ways to enhance the human dimension of Canada’s Northern Strategy. Consul General Jamshed Merchant closed the event with the future development for Canada’s Arctic Council Chairmanship.

A reception and film screening of the documentary “Arctic Dreamer” followed the symposium.

“This is what we would hope to be the first of perhaps of a number of collaborations and partnerships that would focus on UND’s connection to Canada as especially related to the Arctic, which has a lot of influence upon us weather wise, but also economically and politically,”  Merchant said.

Paula Kaledzi is a something for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at paula.kaledzi@my.und.edu.