AIIS 4450 - Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native

(CA-AG, HA-AG)

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

E. Cheyfitz.

Settler Colonialism And The Elimination of the Native: The course title is taken from Patrick Wolfe’s generative essay, which analyzes the specific genre of colonialism in which the object is the replacement of the native (original) population by settlers, whose goal is the appropriation of native land through various forms of violence from genocide to forced assimilation. The particular focus of this course will be the forms settler colonialism takes in the United States against the American Indian population and in Israeli-dominated Palestine against the indigenous Palestinian population and the resistance to settler colonialism by these populations. The course, then, is comparative in method, beginning with analyzing the common biblical origin, that of the Chosen People, that generated the settler ideologies in both the U.S. and Israel.

Outcome 1: Analyze and explain the intertwined histories of the United States and Israel/Palestine.

Outcome 2: Apply the comparative method to undertake historical analysis.

Outcome 3: Apply the comparative method to conduct a written analysis.

Outcome 4: Recognize, define, and apply key terms in the historical analysis of colonialism: colonialism, settler colonialism, apartheid, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and assimilation.