AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITIES: SOVEREIGNTY, STRUGGLES, AND SUCCESSES

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: Sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Civics & Perspectives Ethnic St - Ethnic Studies Breadth - Humanities Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Awareness of History’s Impact on the Present: Understand and identify the relationships and effects of colonial & historical trauma that shaped and continues to influence current sovereignty issues, health disparities, food inequalities, and Tribal lifeways for both rural and urban communities. Audience: Undergraduate 2. A Consciousness of Self and Other: Explore individual implicit biases in which to construct respectful and culturally responsive self-awareness. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Identify key ways Native communities differ from other racial/ethnic groups. Students will “unlearn” and question assumptions about Native communities in the US and reflect on their own racial/ethnic identity. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Describe the role of sovereignty for Native American communities historically and contemporarily. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Evaluate the impact and significance of colonization on Native communities in the US including global Indigenous populations. Students will offer a critical analysis of who has and who continues to benefit from dominant narratives of colonization. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Apply learned knowledge to interrogate the complex systems of oppression and marginalization that Native communities continue to face. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Compare and analyze the efforts of Native communities working to make systemic changes in their own communities and better understand the cultural perspectives of those communities. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Awareness of History’s Impact on the Present: Understand and identify the relationships and effects of colonial & historical trauma that shaped and continues to influence current sovereignty issues, health disparities, food inequalities, and Tribal lifeways for both rural and urban communities. Audience: Undergraduate 2. A Consciousness of Self and Other: Explore individual implicit biases in which to construct respectful and culturally responsive self-awareness. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Identify key ways Native communities differ from other racial/ethnic groups. Students will “unlearn” and question assumptions about Native communities in the US and reflect on their own racial/ethnic identity. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Describe the role of sovereignty for Native American communities historically and contemporarily. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Evaluate the impact and significance of colonization on Native communities in the US including global Indigenous populations. Students will offer a critical analysis of who has and who continues to benefit from dominant narratives of colonization. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Apply learned knowledge to interrogate the complex systems of oppression and marginalization that Native communities continue to face. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Compare and analyze the efforts of Native communities working to make systemic changes in their own communities and better understand the cultural perspectives of those communities. Audience: Undergraduate