Native American Studies Requirements

Native American Studies offers students the opportunity to pursue a program of study that will increase their understanding of the historical experiences, cultural traditions and innovations, and political aspirations of Indian peoples in the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada. Students explore the intersection of Indian and European histories and systems of knowledge. Students will learn essential information about Native American ways of living, organizing societies, and understanding the world, and about their relations with Euro-American colonizing powers. They will learn to appreciate how the value systems of different cultures function and to understand the dynamics of cultural change. They will examine contact and conflict between Native and non-Native societies and will appreciate the unique status of Indian peoples in the United States and Canada.

Students who elect to take a major or minor in Native American Studies will take a number of core courses and will explore interdisciplinary approaches to Native American Studies. Courses in Native American Studies are open to all students. Indeed, the mission of the Native American Studies program depends upon attracting a varied student body who bring their own perspectives and build upon their individual experiences and understandings.

Major Requirements

Students pursue their own interests and develop an individual program, but they also take certain required courses, to ensure that they acquire a common body of substantive knowledge, gain exposure to crucial ways of critical thinking, and explore several essential approaches to Native American Studies.

In order to qualify for a major in Native American Studies, a student must take ten courses, to be selected as follows:

One Prerequisite:

Native American Studies 8: Perspectives in Native American Studies

 

 

One Class in Literature and Languages:

Native American Studies 32,32,35,41,or 47

One Class in History and Culture:

 

Native American Studies 10,14, or 15

One Class in Governance and Sovereignty:

Native American Studies 25,36. or 50

 

A Culminating Experience course:

Native American Studies 81

Five Electives:

Native American Studies 10,11,14,15,22,25

Native American Studies 30,32,34,35,36,37,38,41,45,47,48,49,50

Native American Studies 80

Native American Studies 85 (permission required)

Native American Studies 86 (permission required)

Native American Studies 87 (see Honors Program)

 

All required courses and most electives are usually offered on an annual basis. However, students should consult the Program for current course offerings and special course offerings for each term.

 

One Prerequisite:

NAS 8

Perspectives in Native American Studies

One Class in Literature and Languages:

Choose one of the following

NAS 32/ENGL 67	Indian Killers: Murder and Mystery in Native American Literature and Film
NAS 34/ENGL 60	Native American Oral Tradition Literatures
NAS 35/ENGL 45	Native American Literature
NAS 41	Native American Literature and the Law
NAS 47/ENGL 67	Contemporary Native American Poetry

One Class in History and Culture:

Choose one of the following

NAS 10/ANTH 4	Peoples and Cultures of Native North America
NAS 14/HIST 14	The Invasion of America: American Indian History Pre-Contact to 1830
NAS 15/HIST 15	American Indians and American Expansion: 1800 to 1924

One Class in Governance and Sovereignty:

Choose one of the following

NAS 25	Indian Country Today
NAS 36/GOVT 60	Indigenous Nationalism: Native Rights and Sovereignty
NAS 50/GOVT 69	Native Americans and the Law

A Culminating Experience course:

NAS 81/HIST 96

Senior Seminars in Native American Studies (also see NAS 45)

Five electives:

Choose five of the following

NAS 10/ANTH 4	Peoples and Cultures of Native North America
NAS 11/ANTH 11	Ancient Native Americans
NAS 14/HIST 14	The Invasion of America: American Indian History Pre-Contact to 1830
NAS 15/HIST 15	American Indians and American Expansion: 1800 to 1924
NAS 22	Native American Lives
NAS 25	Indian Country Today
NAS 30	Special Topics in Native American Studies
NAS 32/ENGL 67	Indian Killers: Murder and Mystery in Native American Literature and Film
NAS 34/ENGL 60	Native American Oral Tradition Literatures
NAS 35/ENGL 45	Native American Literature
NAS 36/GOVT 60	Indigenous Nationalism: Native Rights and Sovereignty
NAS 37/ANTH 47	Alaska: American Dreams and Native Realities
NAS 38/HIST 38	American Odysseys: Lewis and Clark, American Indians, and the New Nation
NAS 41	Native American Literature and the Law
NAS 45	American Indian Intellectuals
NAS 47/ENGL 67	Contemporary Native American Poetry
NAS 48	Indians and European Political Thought: 1492-1832
NAS 49/ANTH 25	The Land of the Totem Poles: Native Peoples of the Northwest Coast
NAS 50/GOVT 69	Native Americans and the Law
NAS 80	Advanced Seminars in Native American Studies
NAS 85	Independent Study in Native American Studies
NAS 86	Independent Research in Native American Studies
NAS 87	Native American Studies Honors

Honors Program

The Honors Program in Native American Studies is open only to majors. A candidate for the Honors Program in Native American Studies must satisfy the minimum College requirement of a GPA of 3.0, have a grade average of at least 3.33 in Native American Studies courses, and complete the sequence of courses NAS 86, and 87, in addition to the Senior Seminar NAS 81. Students who take both NAS 86 and NAS 87 may count only one course as credit towards the major requirements.

Students who wish to take the Honors Program must apply in the spring of their junior year and provide a written proposal for their senior thesis or other project. Students who complete the senior thesis and earn a 3.33 average or higher in the courses that constitute the major will earn Honors recognition in Native American Studies, contingent upon a vote of the faculty. High Honors may be granted by a vote of the faculty.