NAIS Courses Fall 2022
Latin American Cultural Studies (has prerequisites)
Interdisciplinary exploration of the construction of “Latin America” throughout history as it relates to conditions of coloniality and negotiations of culture, race, religion, class, and gender. Prerequisite: HISP 301 or 351. (4)
Interconnections
A weekly meeting with program students and faculty to discuss progress, challenges, and the intersection of Indigenous approaches and the university experience. Students are encouraged to attend for no credit in subsequent semesters. Graded A/Pass/Fail. (1)
Introduction to Native American & Indigenous Studies
Introduces students to the scope, methodologies, and intellectual traditions of Native American and Indigenous Studies, focusing on such topics as Indigeneity, settler colonialism, sovereignty, resilience, and the intersectionality of Indigeneity with gender and sexuality. May include community-based service learning components. (4)
Healthcare Diversity
Focuses on core knowledge and competencies necessary to give culturally congruent care to people from diverse populations. Open to non-nursing students with instructor permission. (4)
NAIS Courses J-Term 2023
History of the Western and Pacific Northwest U.S.
How “the West” was defined and geographically situated has changed greatly over time. Yet, “the West” – as both a place and an idea – has played a critical role in the development of the American nation. Course explores historiography and the evolving definitions and understandings of region in the United States. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or consent of instructor. (4)
Visual Sovereignty and Indigenous Film
Working with Indigenous and film studies theory, students will develop a familiarity with themes and trends in Indigenous film and related media, while also developing the critical tools and analytical skills necessary to analyze and discuss them and how they relate to broader issues of Indigeneity. (4)
NAIS Courses Spring 2023
Interconnections
A weekly meeting with program students and faculty to discuss progress, challenges, and the intersection of Indigenous approaches and the university experience. Students are encouraged to attend for no credit in subsequent semesters. Graded A/Pass/Fail. (1)
Environmental Justice and Indigeous Peoples
This course examines the struggle against environmental destruction as fundamental to Indigenous experiences, tracing its history as a central feature of settler colonialism in the United States and globally. It focuses on Indigenous responses and decolonial strategies, and on the sometimes rocky relationship between Indigenous peoples and environmentalist movements. Students read works by Indigenous historians, environmental scholars, and activists, while also addressing real world environmental colonialism in the local community.
Introduction to Native American & Indigenous Studies
Introduces students to the scope, methodologies, and intellectual traditions of Native American and Indigenous Studies, focusing on such topics as Indigeneity, settler colonialism, sovereignty, resilience, and the intersectionality of Indigeneity with gender and sexuality. May include community-based service learning components. (4)
Race and Indigeneity
This course examines ways that settler colonial ideologies of race have been developed and applied to Indigenous. Relying on critical readings on the intersection of race and Indigeneity in US and global contexts, this seminar equips students with important intellectual tools to understand the complexities of these intersections.
Healthcare Diversity
Focuses on core knowledge and competencies necessary to give culturally congruent care to people from diverse populations. Open to non-nursing students with instructor permission. (4)
Native American Religious Traditions
Introduction to a variety of Native American religious traditions, emphasizing the ways sacred traditions construct identity, promote individual and collective well-being, and respond to colonialism. Emphasis is also placed on notions of Indigenous religious traditions as expressions of a people’s relationship with place, traditional ecological knowledge, and Indigenous ecological ethics. (4)
Indigenous Religions and Cultures of the Pacific Northwest
This course explores the religious and cultural diversity of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to northern California, and east to northern Idaho. Emphasis is placed on the history and impacts of colonialism; the relationship between Indigenous people and place as reflected in food systems, ceremonies, visual arts, and oral traditions; and the relevance of traditional ecological knowledge in addressing environmental concerns. (4)
Southern Lushootseed
Introduction to Southern Lushootseed language. Fundamentals of sound system, grammar, and basic speaking and listening comprehension, as well as cultural dynamics of the language and its users. (4)