Greenland and the University of Greenland

Abstract

Ilisimatusarfik is a Greenlandic word which means ‘an institution to promote wisdom’ but which is now commonly understood to mean ‘the university’. Ilisimatusarfik does not look at all like one’s idea of a modern university. It is a very small and a very young institution with extremely limited resources, placed in a little old house next to the sea, in a very small society. In comparison with other universities, with their masses of students and highly specialised Faculties, Ilisimatusarfik seems to be in a weak position. With a total of 130 students and about a dozen faculty members to cover all subjects in four departments with four different profiles Ilisimatusarfik can hardly be expected to produce quantities of scientific data and academic breakthroughs.