Course Descriptions 2024-25
Fall Quarter Course Descriptions
ANTHRO 390-0-3: Indigenous Nations and Anthropology
Central to the constitution of the American anthropology were the Indigenous peoples of North America. This course considers the development of U.S. anthropology, which studied Indigenous peoples who simultaneously challenged, subverted, and undermined their treatment as subjects of study. We will consider the conditions in which anthropological knowledge was produced, its deployment in colonial and imperial projects, and how Indigenous peoples and nations have engaged and responded to such projects throughout time. In particular, we will focus on how Indigenous peoples and nations have retooled anthropology to revitalize their cultures and affirm their sovereignty, which includes finding ways to work with, within and outside of institutions of anthropological knowledge such as museums, archives, and universities.
EVNR-POL-390-0-23 – Land, Identity, and the Sacred: Native American Sacred Site Protection and Religious Rights
This class involves the intersection of religion, cultural preservation, ethnoecology, and law. We will focus on Native American concepts of the sacred, language, and how they create relationships to land, ceremony, history, and tribal/ethnic identity. Central to the class will be a focus on the sacred aspects of tribal identity and the role that landscape plays in the creation and maintenance of these identities.
GBL_HLTH 390-24-01 – Special Topics in Global Health: Native American Health Research and Prevention
Native nations in what is currently the United States are continuously seeking to understanding and undertake the best approaches to research and prevention with their communities. This course introduces students to the benefits and barriers to various approaches to addressing negative health outcomes and harnessing positive social determinants of health influencing broader health status. Important concepts to guide our understanding of these issues will include settler colonialism, colonialism, sovereignty, social determinants of health, asset-based perspectives, and decolonizing research. Students will engage in a reading-intensive, discussion-based seminar, drawing upon research and scholarship from a variety of disciplines including public health, Native American and Indigenous Studies, sociology, history, and medicine. This course does not focus on nor teach traditional Native medicine or philosophies as those are not appropriate in this predominately non-Native environment.
Important: Course Descriptions will be updated as they are recieved by the NAIS program. Please always use CAESAR or email the instructor for in-depth course descriptions or syllabus.