This course introduces students to the study of Indigenous peoples in North America and abroad. Drawing on a range of Indigenous perspectives, it allows students to acquaint themselves with the diversity of Indigenous communities and better understand the multitude of Indigenous experiences—and what it means to be Indigenous—across a range of geographies. Engaging with Indigenous critiques of how their communities and cultures have been (and continue to be) studied and represented by outsiders, students explore the ongoing legacy of cultural misrepresentations and stereotypes and consider how to work with Indigenous communities to affirm their sovereignty, emphasize their survival, and promote their wellbeing. Through the course of the semester, students develop new ways of thinking about Native American and Indigenous peoples, their fights for self-determination, and their unique relationship to settler nation-states.
Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level course. This is a seminar-style course that’s devoted to a single issue facing local Indigenous communities through careful analysis and community engagement. Each time the course is taught, a different issue will be considered. This course is a hands-on, highly collaborative, community engaged, and unapologetically public-facing experience.