Call for Submissions: Visual Cultures of the Circumpolar North Part V

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Visual Cultures of the Circumpolar North – Part V

Theme: States of the Field – New Research in Arctic Pasts

Proposal Deadline: August 29th, 2025
Series Publication: October – December 2025

Over the past decade, research in Arctic history has blossomed, with early career scholars and independent researchers taking up new directions and interdisciplinary approaches. Building on the wealth of knowledge and pedagogical experiences shared in Parts I-IV of the Visual Cultures of the Circumpolar North series, in Part V, series editor Isabelle Gapp and guest editor Sarah Pickman want to assess the current state of the field of Arctic history. Maintaining a focus on visual sources and studies, we ask: What are the most important research questions today? What’s driving the next generation of Arctic scholars? How is the field responding to the challenges of anthropogenic climate change, the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and recent upheavals in academia? How are historians of the Arctic bringing issues of gender, Indigeneity, extraction, class, and other topics to the fore?

In this series we are inviting submissions of 500-1000 words focused on any aspect of recent research in Arctic history, with a focus on the environment, visual and material culture, and other historical sources. We welcome submissions from graduate students, early career scholars, and independent researchers reflecting on their own recent work, assessments of the field of Arctic history and where it is going, or discussions of how the field has changed in response to global challenges. We would also love to hear from senior scholars about changes they have observed in Arctic research in recent years. 

Foregrounding interdisciplinary perspectives, we welcome contributions from art historians, visual and material culture historians, geographers, environmental historians, and others, whose interests encompass the North American Arctic, Greenland, the Nordic Countries, or Russia, with a particular focus on Indigenous communities around the Circumpolar North. 

Submissions are not limited to these themes but should maintain a visual focus. This might take the form of research posts, photo essays, or personal reflections that include visual sources.

Proposals of 150 words will be accepted until August 29th with publications running weekly from the start of October through to the beginning of December. 

If you are interested in contributing to this series, please email your proposal and a short bio to Isabelle Gapp at isabelle.gapp@abdn.ac.uk and Sarah Pickman at sarah.pickman@gmail.com. Please also feel free to write to Isabelle if you would like any additional information about the series or have any questions about submitting a proposal. 

Feature image: An Ecological Arctic Town, 1958. Architect: Ralph Erskine Illustration: Lars Harald Westman. ArkDes, Stockholm.
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Isabelle Gapp

Isabelle Gapp is an Assistant Professor and Interdisciplinary Fellow in the Department of Art History at the University of Aberdeen. She is also Co-Director for The Centre for the North. Her research and teaching considers the intersections between nineteenth and twentieth century landscape painting, environmental history, and climate change across the Circumpolar North.

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