College Schools, Departments & Programs

American Studies

Minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies
Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours. At least 9 credit hours must be at or above the 300 level.

  1. AMST-A 150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
  2. AMST-A 275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas
  3. Additional coursework should be selected in consultation with the NAIS advisor and the Chair of the Committee on NAIS, who will help the student develop a plan of study appropriate to his or her academic and career goals. The plan of study is subject to the following three restrictions:
    1. The Policy on Counting a Course toward Multiple Degree Objectives still applies.
    2. Must include at least 9 credit hours at the 300-400 level.
    3. A maximum of 8 credit hours in Native or Indigenous language coursework (e.g., Lakota, Yucatec Maya, Quechua) may be credited toward the minor. In order to complete the NAIS minor, students applying two semesters (8 credit hours) of language study must also complete at least one non-language course from the Approved Course List (below) for a total of 17 NAIS credit hours.

In fulfilling the above requirements, students must also meet all other College requirements for minors.

Approved Course List

Approved courses are listed below. Other courses with significant (at least 60 percent) Native or Indigenous content may count toward the minor. Courses not listed below must be approved by the NAIS Advisor in concert with the Chair of the Committee on Native American and Indigenous Studies.

  • ANTH-B 472 Bioanthropology of Aboriginal America
  • ANTH-E 210 Rethinking Race Globally
  • ANTH-E 230 American Ethnic Diversity
  • ANTH-E 319 American Indian Religions
  • ANTH-E 320 Indians of North America
  • ANTH-E 321 Peoples of Mexico
  • ANTH-E 322 Peoples of Brazil
  • ANTH-E 327 Native Amazonians and the Environment
  • ANTH-E 340 Indians of Mexico and Central America
  • ANTH-E 422 Native American Communication and Performance
  • ANTH-L 310 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language I
  • ANTH-L 311 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language II
  • ANTH-L 312 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language I
  • ANTH-L 313 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language II
  • ANTH-L 320 American Indian Languages
  • ANTH-P 250 Introductory World Archaeology
  • ANTH-P 330 Historical Archaeology
  • ANTH-P 345 Indigenous Archaeology
  • ANTH-P 350 Archaeology of Ancient Mexico
  • ANTH-P 360 North American Archaeology
  • ANTH-P 361 Prehistory of the Midwestern United States
  • ANTH-P 363 North American Prehistory through Fiction
  • ANTH-P 370 Ancient Civilizations of the Andes
  • ANTH-X 480 Fieldwork in Archaeology
  • ARTH-A 350 Topics in African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian American Art
  • ARTH-A 351 Art of the South Pacific
  • ARTH-A 452 Art of Pre-Columbian America
  • CJUS-P 437 American Indian Justice Policy
  • ENG-L 364 Native American Literature
  • FOLK-F 275 Indigenous Worldviews
  • FOLK-F 315 Latin American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
  • FOLK-F 352 Native American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
  • FOLK-F 353 Native American Film and Video
  • HIST-A 207 Introduction to Native American History
  • HIST-A 300 Issues in United States History (Approved topic: Native American Women)
  • HIST-J 300 Seminar in History (Approved topic: Natives and Newcomers)
  • LTAM-M 101 Elementary Maya I
  • LTAM-M 102 Elementary Maya II
  • LTAM-M 201 Intermediate Maya I
  • LTAM-M 202 Intermediate Maya II
  • LTAM-Q 101 Elementary Quechua I
  • LTAM-Q 102 Elementary Quechua II
  • LTAM-Q 201 Intermediate Quechua I
  • LTAM-Q 202 Intermediate Quechua II
  • POLS-Y 337 Latin American Politics
  • POLS-Y 338 African Politics
  • POLS-Y 367 International Law
  • POLS-X 490 Senior Seminar in Political Science (Approved topic: Indigenous Politics: Contests over Democracy and Development)