AIIS 1110 - Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives

(crosslisted) AMST 1601
(CA-AG, D-AG)

Spring, Summer. 3 credits. Student option grading.

T. Richardson.

This course attends to the contemporary issues, contexts and experiences of Indigenous peoples. Students will develop a substantive understanding of colonialism and engage in the parallels and differences of its histories, forms, and effects on Indigenous peoples globally. Contemporary Indigenous theorists, novelists, visual artists and historians have a prominent place in the course, highlighting social/environmental philosophies, critical responses to and forms of resistance toward neocolonial political and economic agendas and the fundamental concern for Indigenous self determination, among other topics.

Outcome 1: To gain perspective of contemporary issues in Indigenous Studies with a historical sense that not only conveys the “pastness of the past” but its presence and relevance for the future.

Outcome 2: To examine current issues in Indigenous Studies that are important to communities.

Outcome 3: To apply an interdisciplinary lens in understanding indigenous sociocultural and ecological issues.

Outcome 4: To appreciate the complex interconnectivity between the ecological and the sociocultural.

Outcome 5: To comprehend that policy actions informed by cultural systems manifest themselves in social structures that rely on ecological foundations.

Outcome 6: To situate Indigenous Studies within a humanistic framework of knowledge generation.

Outcome 7: To illustrate the relevance and contribution of Indigenous Studies to broader issues of humanity in the 21st Century.

Outcome 8: To discern a methodology of hope based on indigenous experience.