CES 120 - Introduction to Native American Studies

5 CR

Previously ETHN 120.
Provides an historical and contemporary perspective on the social, political, and cultural issues of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Students explore Indigenous literature, and the representation of Native peoples in film and television, among other areas.

Recommended: ENGL 101.
Course Outcomes
Demonstrate a general knowledge and comprehension of how the experience of the Indigenous Peoples of North America differs from those of the colonizing and immigrant peoples; and of how some Native Peoples perceive those experiences. Analyses will include those of Native people living in the urban and rural centers and reservations/rancherias, as well as issues pertaining to mixed-blood Indian experiences. Explain some of the basic principles of Indian sovereignty concepts, which provide a framework for Indian Law and Policy and human rights of Indigenous Peoples as autonomous political bodies. Generally discuss parameters of traditional tribal knowledge and Indigenous epistemologies in both pre- and post-contact tribal cultures. Demonstrate a general knowledge Indigenous activism from contact to the present. Explain Indigenous representation and identity in historical and contemporary analyses of dominant US popular culture. Critically analyze and discuss the field of Native American/Indigenous Studies, its history and its future, including the understanding of a global approach to the concept of Indigeneity.

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