Native American and Indigenous Studies Courses (NAIS)

NAIS Courses

This is a list of courses with the subject code NAIS. For more information, see Native American and Indigenous Studies (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) in the catalog.

NAIS:1049 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies 3 s.h.

Exploration of past, present, and future of American Indians in the United States and beyond through film, art, music, and comedy. GE: Values and Culture. Same as AMST:1049, HIST:1049.

NAIS:1095 Native American Art 3 s.h.

Survey of the visual arts of Indigenous peoples in North America with emphasis on regions that have become the United States; exploration of painting, sculpture, ceramics, fiber arts, performance, and architecture as expressions of identity, creativity, resistance, and resilience from ancestral traditions through transformations prompted by non-Native contact to today's vibrant art scene. GE: Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts; Values and Culture. Same as ARTH:1095.

NAIS:1290 Native American Foods and Foodways 3 s.h.

Native Americans as original farmers of 46% of the world's table vegetables; examination of food as a cultural artifact (e.g., chocolate, tobacco); food as a primary way in which human beings express their identities; environmental, material, and linguistic differences that shape unique food cultures among Native peoples across the Western Hemisphere; close analysis of Indigenous foods, rituals, and gender roles associated with them; how colonization transformed Native American, European, and African American cultures. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Same as AMST:1290, GHS:1290, HIST:1290.

NAIS:1500 Topics in Native American and Indigenous Studies 3 s.h.

Native American and Indigenous peoples; concepts, problems, and issues.

NAIS:2165 Native Peoples of North America 3 s.h.

History, culture of American Indian peoples; emphasis on North America. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Same as AMST:2165, ANTH:2165.

NAIS:2292 Native American Law and Policy: A History 3 s.h.

Native Americans are citizens of governments that predate the U.S.; what it means to be a citizen of a federally recognized tribe within the U.S.; exploration of the peculiar status of Native nations and their citizens since 1789. Same as AMST:2292, HIST:2292.

NAIS:2294 Indigenous Art Activism and Social Justice 3 s.h.

Examination of the Native and political aspects of Native arts in the 19th and 20th centuries, from drawings and material culture produced for tourists and collectors to works that explicitly address Native oppression through federal policies, popular cultural appropriations, and colonial representations of Indigenous peoples; emphasis on Indigenous interpretations of colonial and settler history and culture through various media and representations of Indigenous identity and politics. Same as HIST:2294, SJUS:2294.

NAIS:2300 Native Americans in Film 3 s.h.

Representations of Native Americans in film from the western to science fiction and animation. Same as AMST:2300.

NAIS:2500 Indigenous Art, Land, and Social Justice 3 s.h.

Examples, readings, discussions, and special projects to examine contemporary visual, performance, and multimedia art by Native North American and other Indigenous artists as a component of broader indigenous activism for social justice and defense of land.

NAIS:3110 Colonialism and Indigenous Health Equity 3 s.h.

Health problems and services for Indigenous populations worldwide, from perspective of Fourth World postcolonial politics. Prerequisites: ANTH:1101 or ANTH:2165 or GHS:2000 or HIST:1049. Same as ANTH:3110, GHS:3110.

NAIS:3240 Cultural Resources Management Archaeology: Practice and Practicalities 3 s.h.

Cultural Resources Management (CRM) archaeology is the largest sector of archaeological research in the United States in terms of employment, funding, field- and lab-related activity; students investigate the past and navigate complexities of compliance requirements from federal, state, and local regulations concerning historic preservation; introduction to legal, procedural, and practical foundations of CRM archaeology; preparation for employment by acquisition of skills from project planning through dissemination of results. Recommendations: completion of other anthropology, geography, history, or Native American studies courses. Same as ANTH:3240.

NAIS:3243 Archaeology of the American Midcontinent 3 s.h.

Survey of the archaeology of the American midcontinent for students interested in the past beyond what historical documents reveal; exploration of Late Pleistocene and Archaic hunter-gatherer adaptations, Woodland and Late Prehistoric horticulturalists, Middle and Upper Mississippian emergent chiefdoms, and historic period first contact, fur trade, and fort sites; how archaeologists utilize regional archaeological data in addressing culture change issues to develop the essential grounding for understanding how people lived in different times and places in the past, and how prehistoric peoples relate to their modern descendants across the midcontinent. Recommendations: ANTH:1201. Same as ANTH:3243.

NAIS:3257 North American Archaeology 3 s.h.

Prehistoric cultural development north of Mexico from initial occupation to European contact and conquest; emphasis on dynamics of culture change. Same as ANTH:3257.

NAIS:3258 Southwestern Archaeology 3 s.h.

Anthropological overview of prehistoric cultures of the American Southwest; emphasis on understanding archaeological arguments concerning major processes in the past. Same as ANTH:3258.

NAIS:3270 Colonial North America, ca. 1600-1775 3 s.h.

Introduction to major themes in colonial American history prior to the American Revolution; Native American history; colonialism and Native resistance; slavery; material culture; religion and spirituality; immigration; gender and sexuality in cross-cultural perspective. Same as HIST:3270.

NAIS:3272 Native Americans in the Age of Empires, ca. 1500-1815 3 s.h.

Overview of major issues in Native American history during the period of European Imperialism; colonialism, diplomacy and alliance building, warfare, captivity, religious and spiritual exchanges, revolution, and the disintegration of Native-European alliances in the early 19th century. Same as HIST:3272.

NAIS:3289 The Atlantic World c. 1450-1850 3 s.h.

Interactions between peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas between the 15th and mid-19th centuries, interconnected system of exchange that defied national and imperial boundaries; encounters between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans in different parts of the Americas; forced and voluntary resettlement of Africans and Europeans overseas; development of plantation slave societies; biological consequences of transatlantic contact; circulation of people, goods, and ideas; development of creole societies; era of revolutions; abolition of slavery. Same as HIST:3289.

NAIS:3430 Environmental Politics and Indigeneity 3 s.h.

Examination of contemporary environmental challenges through the lens of indigeneity; exploration of the concepts of environment and indigeneity, and development of a guiding framework for analyzing environmental challenges; application of this framework to analyze themes including climate change, biodiversity, food production, management of genetic resources, extractivism, and sustainable development; environmental/indigenous scholars and activists share their work and insights. Same as POLI:3430.

NAIS:3432 Agriculture Politics and Policy 3 s.h.

Examination of local, national, and international politics and policies around agriculture including genetically modified organisms (GMOs), subsidies, trade, genetic seed banks, sustainability, and indigeneity. Same as POLI:3432.

NAIS:3441 Native American Literature 3 s.h.

English majors and English and Creative Writing majors may apply this course to the following area and/or period requirement. AREA: American Literature and Culture. PERIOD: 20th/21st-Century Literature. English and Creative Writing majors may apply this course to the Multiethnic American Literature and Culture requirement. Same as ENGL:3441.

NAIS:3502 History of Mexico 3 s.h.

Mexican history since the eve of the Spanish invasion, with focus on the national period; indigenous groups, conquest and demographic disaster, Native survival, labor and migration, social protest and rebellions, nationhood, revolution, regional differences, religions, popular culture, economic growth and distribution, state building, environmental change, international relations; survey. Same as HIST:3502, LAS:3502.

NAIS:4500 Special Topics in Native American and Indigenous Studies 1-3 s.h.

Native American and Indigenous peoples; concepts, problems, and issues.

NAIS:4990 Independent Study arr.

NAIS:5099 American Indian and Native Studies Proseminar 1 s.h.

Intensive reading on designated topics with multidisciplinary relevance in Native American and Indigenous studies; may include screenings, field trips, guest speakers, special events.

NAIS:6050 Seminar: Topics in Native American and Indigenous Studies 3 s.h.

Native American and Indigenous peoples; concepts, problems, and issues.

NAIS:6099 Independent Study Project arr.

Completion of a significant scholarly project that addresses the scope, goals, and ongoing development of Native American and Indigenous studies as an academic field; findings presented on campus (e.g., NAIS steering committee or in association with an NAIS-sponsored event) or at an academic conference.

NAIS:6620 Readings in Native American Literatures 3 s.h.

Same as ENGL:6620.

NAIS:7202 Readings: 20th-Century Native American History arr.

Examination of the Indigenous 20th century through a series of themes including settler colonialism, sovereignty and self-determination, federal Indian policy, and Indigenous feminism; readings focus primarily on secondary sources, but attention is given to key primary sources; students are required to carry out specified research tasks. Same as HIST:7202.