Who are Indigenous peoples, and what does it mean to study indigeneity? What are the historical and present-day relationships between Indigenous communities and the settler states that claim authority over their ancestral lands? In what ways do Indigenous peoples resist, reclaim, and reimagine their futures in the face of ongoing threats of dispossession?
Drawing on scholarship from anthropology, history, political science, literary studies, and the arts, this course offers a broad, interdisciplinary introduction to Indigenous Studies. We will examine the intellectual traditions, political projects, and cultural expressions of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island (North America) and beyond, with attention to the Pacific, Latin America, and other global contexts. Topics include settler colonialism as a structure; sovereignty and self-determination; land, language, and ecological knowledge; race, gender, and kinship; decolonizing methodologies; Indigenous activism and solidarity movements; and contemporary cultural production. Throughout, we will center Indigenous voices, perspectives, and scholarship by reading and discussing works by Indigenous authors alongside critical theory.
ANSO 222 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
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