Class Schedules

The American West is central to the construction of America's identity and popular culture.  The mythology of the American West, built on a narrow foundation of Euro-American settlement and conquest, is critical to understanding the role of the West in the national narrative of American history. Using a variety of materials, including films, art and photography, literature, and historical sources, this course will examine how writers, artists, actors, settlers, and government officials, among others, shaped the creation of the mythic West.  This course will investigate what - and who - is and is not considered part of this mythology, as well as the ways in which these constructs attempted to make sense of the diverse populations converging in the West. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," -and or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Human beings have an unprecedented ability to shape the environment around them, yet the environment powerfully shapes both individuals and species. Two main questions run throughout this course: 1. How does language influence the way we think about and perceive nature, which in turn influences the way we interact with and shape nature? 2. How has our environment shaped the Language faculty and individual languages? To answer these questions, we'll start by asking, what is language and what is nature? Then we'll turn to the way that our environment has impacted the evolution of Language. Next we'll look at indigenous knowledge as it is encoded by language and the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis, which says that language influences the way we perceive the world. With this as background, we'll look at the language of environmental discourse. Next, using the metaphor of ecology, we'll examine languages as if they were organisms and analyze the ecosystems that sustain them. Knowing what makes a healthy language, we'll look at endangered languages and the connections between linguistic diversity and biodiversity.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines Native history since 1871, the year Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations. By focusing on Native sovereignty, resistance, and the exercise of treaty rights, this course highlights histories and contemporary experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," and or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

People have always had to contend with the natural world, but only recently have historians begun to explore the changing relationships between people and their environment over time. In this course, we will examine the variety of ways that people in North America have shaped the environment, as well as how they have used, labored in, abused, conserved, protected, rearranged, polluted, cleaned, and thought about it. In addition, we will explore how various characteristics of the natural world have affected the broad patterns of human society, sometimes harming or hindering life and other times enabling rapid development and expansion. By bringing nature into the study of human history and the human past into the study of nature, we will begin to see the connections and interdependencies between the two that are often overlooked.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This survey course will explore history, policy, and pedagogy as they relate to race, ethnicity, and culture as education. K-12 public education will be the primary focus with topics including desegregation, standardized testing, multi-cultural and ethnocentric pedagogy, the teacher's role and experience, and significant historical events in education. The course will culminate by analyzing current trends and future expectations in education.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Join us as we explore the roots and routes of Native Cultural Studies through photography, film, television, print and media. How have Indigenous people been represented in visual culture? And what can Indigenous visual artists or film theory teach us about the past, present and future in the United States? No previous coursework required.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

No river looms larger in north American history than the Mississippi, which meanders within acouple miles of Macalester’s tree-lined campus. Flowing through the geographic heart of thecontinent, the Mississippi has shaped the region’s economic, social, political, and cultural historysince before the U.S. existed. This course will examine the river’s environmental history – howthe river’s physical form has changed and been changed over time, and what those changes havemeant for people’s livelihoods and worldviews. We will dig into the geologic and geographicforces that shaped the river valley, Indigenous views of the river past and present, slavery and thecommercialization and industrialization of the river, and 20th -century stories of agriculturaldevelopment, pollution, flooding, dams and levees, and conservation. Using interdisciplinaryhistorical tools, we’ll examine case studies from the river north and south, from Itasca to NewOrleans, but with special attention to Minnesota and Midwest histories.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Drawing from activist-scholar Teresia Teaiwa's concept of s/pacific to honor the specificities of Pacific Islander experiences, this course will explore various social movements across the Pacific region. Students will examine how Pacific Indigenous movements challenge colonialism, militarism, and environmental degradation through texts including scholarly work, oral histories, documentary films, and creative expressions. Focusing on the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific, Mau Movement, Polynesian Panthers movement, and the 350 Pacific, the course will analyze the role of community education, language revitalization efforts, and activist pedagogies in shaping political and cultural change. An emphasis will be placed on Indigenous epistemologies, land-based learning, and the mobilization of education in pursuit of sovereignty.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In the 21st century, a major challenge facing the planet is the accelerating loss ofbiodiversity around the world. This course will examine the explosion of national parks aroundthe world in the last century to protect biodiversity, and investigate the shift from “fortressconservation” models of protected areas, which often displaced Indigenous and localcommunities, to more recent community-based models of conserving nature. The first part of thiscourse will focus on examples of national parks in the US, Africa, and Asia. The second part ofthe course will examine community-based programs around the world, especially success stories.A key focus of the course will be a class project working with Nepal’s Chitwan TharuCulture Museum (at their request) to make a display on “parks and people” for their museum,which borders Chitwan National Park, Nepal’s oldest park. Students will examine primarymaterials from interviews and historical documents but also will do zoom interviews withcommunity members and NGO workers in Nepal. Nepal has seen its share of fortressconservation but also pioneering models of community-based management strategies.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

No river looms larger in north American history than the Mississippi, which meanders within acouple miles of Macalester’s tree-lined campus. Flowing through the geographic heart of thecontinent, the Mississippi has shaped the region’s economic, social, political, and cultural historysince before the U.S. existed. This course will examine the river’s environmental history – howthe river’s physical form has changed and been changed over time, and what those changes havemeant for people’s livelihoods and worldviews. We will dig into the geologic and geographicforces that shaped the river valley, Indigenous views of the river past and present, slavery and thecommercialization and industrialization of the river, and 20th -century stories of agriculturaldevelopment, pollution, flooding, dams and levees, and conservation. Using interdisciplinaryhistorical tools, we’ll examine case studies from the river north and south, from Itasca to NewOrleans, but with special attention to Minnesota and Midwest histories. Fields: Environment, North America, Colonization and Empire, Race and Indigeneity

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course focuses on one of the world’s most vibrant regions, Latin America and the Caribbean. Extending from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, this world region stretches across diverse landscapes, from tropical rainforests to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes, from mega-cities to verdant plains and sparsely populated deserts. This course is a broad introduction to Latin American environments and peoples from a geographic perspective, with emphasis on human-environment processes. Major topics include the dynamics of climate, physical geography, and natural hazards; how indigenous peoples of the Americas transformed their environments, especially through agriculture; how European colonialism and the Columbian Exchange altered patterns of land use, labor, and trade; the development patterns of modern nation-states within a globalized economy; the environmental and social impacts of commodity production (e.g. coffee in Central America, rubber in the Amazon); challenges to and persistence of small-scale agriculture in the Andean region; the causes and consequences of tropical deforestation; conflicts over land and natural resources; the resilience and political resurgence of indigenous groups and people of African descent, and the evolution of pluriethnic or multinational states; and the causes of mass urbanization and the environmental problems of cities. Along the way, we will examine the human-environment geography of various regions and countries such as The Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, the Andean Countries, and Argentina.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In the 21st century, a major challenge facing the planet is the accelerating loss ofbiodiversity around the world. This course will examine the explosion of national parks aroundthe world in the last century to protect biodiversity, and investigate the shift from “fortressconservation” models of protected areas, which often displaced Indigenous and localcommunities, to more recent community-based models of conserving nature. The first part of thiscourse will focus on examples of national parks in the US, Africa, and Asia. The second part ofthe course will examine community-based programs around the world, especially success stories.A key focus of the course will be a class project working with Nepal’s Chitwan TharuCulture Museum (at their request) to make a display on “parks and people” for their museum,which borders Chitwan National Park, Nepal’s oldest park. Students will examine primarymaterials from interviews and historical documents but also will do zoom interviews withcommunity members and NGO workers in Nepal. Nepal has seen its share of fortressconservation but also pioneering models of community-based management strategies.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

From the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century, the Amazon rainforest has been a source of wonderment, greed, and, in our present, concern. However, as exemplified by metaphors such as “el Dorado”, the “Green Hell” or the “Lungs of the Earth”, the Amazon is as much a geographical space as it is a discursive formation. This course offers an introduction to the cultural representations of the Amazon rainforest. From Indigenous myths to contemporary films and first-person accounts, we will analyze how the Amazon has been imagined and depicted by multiple actors, such as indigenous activists, scientists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs. Through a variety of texts, disciplines, and voices, we will analyze how the Amazon has been narrated as a place of “origin”, “wealth”, “suffering”, and “resistance”. While students will gain a general understanding of Amazonian culture, one of the objectives of the course is to discuss how indigenous peoples are tapping into their ancestral knowledge to situate themselves as global political actors and fight back against environmental degradation. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement of the Spanish major. Prerequisite: SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

From the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century, the Amazon rainforest has been a source of wonderment, greed, and, in our present, concern. However, as exemplified by metaphors such as “el Dorado”, the “Green Hell” or the “Lungs of the Earth”, the Amazon is as much a geographical space as it is a discursive formation. This course offers an introduction to the cultural representations of the Amazon rainforest. From Indigenous myths to contemporary films and first-person accounts, we will analyze how the Amazon has been imagined and depicted by multiple actors, such as indigenous activists, scientists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs. Through a variety of texts, disciplines, and voices, we will analyze how the Amazon has been narrated as a place of “origin”, “wealth”, “suffering”, and “resistance”. While students will gain a general understanding of Amazonian culture, one of the objectives of the course is to discuss how indigenous peoples are tapping into their ancestral knowledge to situate themselves as global political actors and fight back against environmental degradation. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement of the Spanish major. Prerequisite: SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This class invites you to reflect on your relationship to water, saltwater, and their protectors. Centered on two texts, Cooling the Tropics by Hi‘ilei Hobart and Theory of Water by Leanne Simpson, our class will explore theories of ice and water, and their implications for everyday living. Alongside these main texts, the course includes scholarship, storytelling, and community voices that help explore questions like who and where is moana? And why does knowing moana matter in our current times and for the times ahead?

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This class invites you to reflect on your relationship to water, saltwater, and their protectors. Centered on two texts, Cooling the Tropics by Hi‘ilei Hobart and Theory of Water by Leanne Simpson, our class will explore theories of ice and water, and their implications for everyday living. Alongside these main texts, the course includes scholarship, storytelling, and community voices that help explore questions like who and where is moana? And why does knowing moana matter in our current times and for the times ahead?

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Language loss is accelerating at alarming rates. In fact, Linguists predict that only five percent of the six thousand languages currently spoken in the world are expected to survive into the 22nd century. In this course, we will examine the historical, political, and socio-economic factors behind the endangerment and/or marginalization of languages in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. We will also concentrate on the globalization of English (and other major languages), which plays a primary role in language endangerment and marginalization. Additional topics include: linguistic diversity, language policy, multilingualism (in both nations and individuals), global language conflict, and language revitalization. Students will have the opportunity to learn first-hand about these issues by interviewing speakers of an endangered and/or minority language.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Human beings have an unprecedented ability to shape the environment around them, yet the environment powerfully shapes both individuals and species. Two main questions run throughout this course: 1. How does language influence the way we think about and perceive nature, which in turn influences the way we interact with and shape nature? 2. How has our environment shaped the Language faculty and individual languages? To answer these questions, we'll start by asking, what is language and what is nature? Then we'll turn to the way that our environment has impacted the evolution of Language. Next we'll look at indigenous knowledge as it is encoded by language and the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis, which says that language influences the way we perceive the world. With this as background, we'll look at the language of environmental discourse. Next, using the metaphor of ecology, we'll examine languages as if they were organisms and analyze the ecosystems that sustain them. Knowing what makes a healthy language, we'll look at endangered languages and the connections between linguistic diversity and biodiversity.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

People have always had to contend with the natural world, but only recently have historians begun to explore the changing relationships between people and their environment over time. In this course, we will examine the variety of ways that people in North America have shaped the environment, as well as how they have used, labored in, abused, conserved, protected, rearranged, polluted, cleaned, and thought about it. In addition, we will explore how various characteristics of the natural world have affected the broad patterns of human society, sometimes harming or hindering life and other times enabling rapid development and expansion. By bringing nature into the study of human history and the human past into the study of nature, we will begin to see the connections and interdependencies between the two that are often overlooked.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course explores the ways in which diverse groups of people interact with the natural environment to produce the contemporary landscapes (human and physical) and regional differentiation (social and cultural) of the U.S. and Canada. The course emphasizes patterns of human settlement, economic activity, and land use, with special attention given to social and legal issues relevant to Native populations in the U.S. and the historic and current status and development of Native lands. Case studies and a field study to the Boreal Forest region of northern Minnesota will be used to demonstrate broad themes at a more personal scale.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Radical Reelism serves as an introduction to Critical Indigenous studies. In this course, we will trace the roots and routes of contemporary Indigenous filmmaking and new media in the U.S. and globally. What is the history of visual representation for Indigenous people? How do we reconcile the relationship between the reel and real? What is visual sovereignty? And what can Indigenous filmmakers and film theory teach us about radicalism and the world we live in? We will seek answers to these questions through a centering of the radical visions, stories and aesthetics of contemporary Indigenous filmmakers and visual artists around the world.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

We won’t be traveling to a galaxy far, far away, but we will examine the creation of the U.S. empire – and historical and contemporary resistance to the impositions of empire. We’ll begin with encounters with Indigenous nations in the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i before traveling to Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and other U.S.-held territories. This class will focus on discussions of race and imperialism, citizenship and belonging, and inclusion and exclusion, centering on federal policies and performances of race on national and international stages. We will also examine how these attempts were often (and continue to be) subverted and undermined by these supposed subjects who continually resist and redefine imperialist ambitions.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Asia and the Pacific Islands host more of the world's Indigenous people than any other continent -- roughly 260 million out of 370 million worldwide (70 percent). In addition, Indigenous people in Asia generally make up the continent’s “poorest of the poor,” facing systemic disadvantage including limited access to healthcare, education, land, capital, and labor, as well as weaker political representation. In this course, we examine the lived experience of indigenous people in the Asia-Pacific through three analytical frames: their relationship to the state and the global order, their relationship to territory and the environment, and challenges to cultural survival. Along the way, we discuss colonialism and settler colonialism, colonial and contemporary representations of indigenous people, the challenges to both cultural and political survival of indigenous people posed by state formation, the challenges of resource extraction and globalization, conservation as a form of colonialism, and the creation of an indigenous diaspora. The course includes guest speakers and field trips.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

We won’t be traveling to a galaxy far, far away, but we will examine the creation of the U.S. empire – and historical and contemporary resistance to the impositions of empire. We’ll begin with encounters with Indigenous nations in the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i before traveling to Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and other U.S.-held territories. This class will focus on discussions of race and imperialism, citizenship and belonging, and inclusion and exclusion, centering on federal policies and performances of race on national and international stages. We will also examine how these attempts were often (and continue to be) subverted and undermined by these supposed subjects who continually resist and redefine imperialist ambitions.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Asia and the Pacific Islands host more of the world’s Indigenous people than any other continent -- roughly 260 million out of 370 million worldwide (70 percent). In addition, Indigenous people in Asia generally make up the continent’s “poorest of the poor,” facing systemic disadvantage including limited access to healthcare, education, land, capital, and labor, as well as weaker political representation. In this course, we examine the lived experience of indigenous people in the Asia-Pacific through three analytical frames: their relationship to the state and the global order, their relationship to territory and the environment, and challenges to cultural survival. Along the way, we discuss colonialism and settler colonialism, colonial and contemporary representations of indigenous people, the challenges to both cultural and political survival of indigenous people posed by state formation, the challenges of resource extraction and globalization, conservation as a form of colonialism, and the creation of an indigenous diaspora. The course includes guest speakers and field trips.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

No river looms larger in north American history than the Mississippi, which meanders within a couple miles of Macalester’s tree-lined campus. Flowing through the geographic heart of the continent, the Mississippi has shaped the region’s economic, social, political, and cultural history since before the U.S. existed. This course will examine the river’s environmental history – how the river’s physical form has changed and been changed over time, and what those changes have meant for people’s livelihoods and worldviews. We will dig into the geologic and geographic forces that shaped the river valley, Indigenous views of the river past and present, slavery and the commercialization and industrialization of the river, and 20th -century stories of agricultural development, pollution, flooding, dams and levees, and conservation. Using interdisciplinary historical tools, we’ll examine case studies from the river north and south, from Itasca to New Orleans, but with special attention to Minnesota and Midwest histories.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

No river looms larger in north American history than the Mississippi, which meanders within a couple miles of Macalester’s tree-lined campus. Flowing through the geographic heart of the continent, the Mississippi has shaped the region’s economic, social, political, and cultural history since before the U.S. existed. This course will examine the river’s environmental history – how the river’s physical form has changed and been changed over time, and what those changes have meant for people’s livelihoods and worldviews. We will dig into the geologic and geographic forces that shaped the river valley, Indigenous views of the river past and present, slavery and the commercialization and industrialization of the river, and 20th -century stories of agricultural development, pollution, flooding, dams and levees, and conservation. Using interdisciplinary historical tools, we’ll examine case studies from the river north and south, from Itasca to New Orleans, but with special attention to Minnesota and Midwest histories.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Asia and the Pacific Islands host more of the world's Indigenous people than any other continent -- roughly 260 million out of 370 million worldwide (70 percent). In addition, Indigenous people in Asia generally make up the continent’s “poorest of the poor,” facing systemic disadvantage including limited access to healthcare, education, land, capital, and labor, as well as weaker political representation. In this course, we examine the lived experience of indigenous people in the Asia-Pacific through three analytical frames: their relationship to the state and the global order, their relationship to territory and the environment, and challenges to cultural survival. Along the way, we discuss colonialism and settler colonialism, colonial and contemporary representations of indigenous people, the challenges to both cultural and political survival of indigenous people posed by state formation, the challenges of resource extraction and globalization, conservation as a form of colonialism, and the creation of an indigenous diaspora. The course includes guest speakers and field trips.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides opportunities for students to engage with research methods that promote inclusive, egalitarian, exploratory social inquiry aimed at enriching the quality of learning and life in schools and civic spaces. Pedagogical in addition to formal research applications are addressed, as are implications for development and change on personal to organizational to societal levels. Ethical dimensions of engaging children and youth, in schools and community settings, as research participants and as researchers, are also carefully considered.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary filmmaking in Abya Yala, a term that reclaims the Indigenous identities and knowledges of the territories known as the Americas. Through an examination of 21st century feature films and documentaries, we will discuss how both Indigenous and non-Indigenous directors use cinema to portray the history of colonial violence, its lasting legacies, and the ongoing struggle for indigenous sovereignty in Abya Yala/Latin America. Recognizing the ethical complexities inherent in filmmaking, in this course we will critically analyze the representation of Indigenous identities, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous creators, and the rise of Indigenous-led film production. Along with film screenings and in-class discussions, students will elaborate a video essay to deepen their understanding of the politics of representation in Abya Yala/Latin American cinema, and explore the region’s ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights and self-determination. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

In this course, we will explore a range of interdisciplinary research approaches and methods to both environmental justice and public humanities. Together, we will examine new directions and public projects in environmental humanities through key themes including environmental and climate justice, resource extraction, waste disposal, Indigenous sovereignty, imperialism, militarism and environmental racism. Students will also devote time to develop an original public humanities research project on social movement histories and environmental inequality. Open to all. This research-oriented seminar will fulfill the requirement for AMST Junior Seminar.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course examines the transformation of Indigenous religious systems in response to European colonial expansion and how radically new religious movements grow out of spiritual crises of conquest. We will study various types of prophetic traditions, revolutionary ideologies, and revitalization movements that Indigenous peoples developed to preserve their cultural identities in the face of forced integration into imperial systems. After problematizing the very notion of “Indigenous religions,” the course explores how traditional spiritual leaders attempted to explain and resist colonial presence through novel systems of belief, material culture, and ritual practice. Drawing on global case studies, we will focus on religious revolutions spurred by European expansion in North America, Mesoamerica, Africa, and Oceania. Key case studies include: Aztec responses to Spanish conquest, the Pueblo Revolt, the Ghost Dance, Haudenosaunee religious revitalization, the 1920s Pueblo Dance controversy, Melanesian cargo cults, the Great Xhosa Cattle-Killing, and Christianity as a Jewish response to Roman imperialism. Contemporary Indigenous traditions of activism and protest against extractive industries, such as resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and fracking near Chaco Canyon, will serve as a final focus of the course.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In this course, we will explore a range of interdisciplinary research approaches and methods to both environmental justice and public humanities. Together, we will examine new directions and public projects in environmental humanities through key themes including environmental and climate justice, resource extraction, waste disposal, Indigenous sovereignty, imperialism, militarism and environmental racism. Students will also devote time to develop an original public humanities research project on social movement histories and environmental inequality. Open to all. This research-oriented seminar will fulfill the requirement for AMST Junior Seminar.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

There are over 5000 nations of Indigenous peoples globally, including over 574 Native American tribal nations in what we now call the United States. This discussion-based course engages the rich diversity of thought in the tradition of Native American and Indigenous philosophy from both a historical as well as contemporary perspective. We will read from Indigenous philosophers on topics such as land, relations, being, and sovereignty to pose questions such as: What does it mean to be alive? What is the best way to know?, and, How do we live a good life in agreement with our surroundings?

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary filmmaking in Abya Yala, a term that reclaims the Indigenous identities and knowledges of the territories known as the Americas. Through an examination of 21st century feature films and documentaries, we will discuss how both Indigenous and non-Indigenous directors use cinema to portray the history of colonial violence, its lasting legacies, and the ongoing struggle for indigenous sovereignty in Abya Yala/Latin America. Recognizing the ethical complexities inherent in filmmaking, in this course we will critically analyze the representation of Indigenous identities, collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous creators, and the rise of Indigenous-led film production. Along with film screenings and in-class discussions, students will elaborate a video essay to deepen their understanding of the politics of representation in Abya Yala/Latin American cinema, and explore the region’s ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights and self-determination. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials