Native American and Indigenous Studies

Summary

The Associate of Arts Degree in Native American and Indigenous Studies is designed to provide students with the skills necessary to engage, appreciate, and contribute to Native American communities. Emphasis is placed on the various diverse elements of Native American identity that have shaped and continue to create Indigenous culture through examination of Native American lived experiences that demonstrate the survival, resistance, and flourishing of Native American culture in the areas of language, cultural expression and practices, education, and tribal sovereignty. Coursework focuses on the diversity and commonality among Indian Nations as well as tribal governments and cultures, including the ways in which federal policies have and continue to act as forces of colonization that negatively impact Native American communities.

Award Note: The Associate Degree requires a minimum of 60 degree applicable semester units.

Learning Outcome(s): Students who complete the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program will be able to:

1. Explain and describe the spiritual, cultural, historical, and legal components and foundations of Native American individual, community, and national/tribal identity.
2. Evaluate the individual and collective lived experiences of Native Americans surviving and resisting colonization and other forces of racial suppression and how these individuals and communities have engaged in decolonizing their realities.
3. Utilize perspectives of Indigenous traditional knowledge to examine current issues affecting Indian communities and nations
4. Examine and explain the development, expressions, and protection of tribal sovereignty as preserved by the political, legal, cultural, and spiritual struggles of Indian Nations, governments, communities, and individual.

Requirements