CCOG for NAS 201 archive revision 201804

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Effective Term:
Fall 2018 through Summer 2019

Course Number:
NAS 201
Course Title:
Introduction to Native American Studies
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Provides interdisciplinary, historical, and contemporary perspectives on the social, political, legal, economic, environmental, and cultural issues of Indigenous Peoples of the United States. Examines the Native Nations of the United States from antiquity to the present and future. Explores Indigenous languages, migrations, and worldviews. Analyzes effects of invasion and colonization with an emphasis on survival, political self-determination, and tribal sovereignty. Examines U.S. Federal Indian law and policy, Native citizenship and enrollment, methods of tribal governance, and Native American arts and cultural expressions. Recommended: (WR 115 and RD 115) or IRW 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement. Audit available.

Addendum to Course Description

As an interdisciplinary course, NAS 201 pulls from the disciplines of political science, law, history, linguistics, literature, art, architecture, environmental science, geography, psychology, gender studies, social work, sociology, anthropology, and more.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  1. Identify the diversity of Native American worldviews, experiences, and modes of living.
  2. Use interdisciplinary methodology to analyze complex legal, social, and cultural issues that shape/influence Native American experiences.
  3. Explain how the legacy of Native and non-Native relations influences current practices of self-determination, identification, and recognition.

Aspirational Goals

To provide a positive and productive educational experience for PCC students by building bridges between peoples, by respecting the sovereignty and worldviews of Indigenous nations, and by supporting and serving Native American communities at PCC, in the Portland metro region, and across the continent. To educate and empower students to communicate in ways that demonstrate respect for Indigenous contexts, histories, and futures.

Course Activities and Design

Class meeting time will often consist of lecture, full-class discussion, small group discussion; individual and collaborative projects, and/or flipped-classroom approaches where concepts learned outside of class are analyzed and applied when class meets. Meeting time may also include the following: writing; researching; viewing video and multimedia productions; listening to guest speakers; field trips.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Instructors are encouraged to integrate some of the following kinds of tasks into the course to assess student achievement of course outcomes in a comprehensive and holistic manner:

  • Informal response papers or journals

  • Short formal papers on specific concepts, themes, and issues

  • Multimodal or multigenre inquiry projects

  • Video projects

  • Oral presentations

  • Oral histories and interviews

  • Term or research projects, using a variety of research strategies

  • Individual research, analysis, and presentation projects

  • Group research, analysis, and presentation projects

  • Work with a Native American event, community organization, or tribal government

  • Participation in full-class discussions and small groups or teams

  • Participation in online discussion forums

  • Student-instructor conferences

  • Portfolios

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Themes, Concepts, and Issues:

  • The inherent interdisciplinarity of Native American Studies

  • Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination

  • Indigenous knowledge and intellectualism: historical patterns and contemporary concepts

  • Native arts and cultural expressions, in multiple genres and media

  • Legal relationship between Native American nations and the US federal government

  • Genocide and survival strategies

  • Oralities and literacies

  • Processes of Native documentation, with consideration to differences between Native self-documentation and documentation of Native-ness by Europeans

  • Diversity of Native nations; diversity within Native nations

  • Native languages and worldviews

  • Native agriculture and food production

  • Native economic development

  • Native systems of education

  • Native traditions over time: past, present, and future

  • Indigenous Futurism


Skills:

  • In this course, students will develop the cultural responsiveness and critical thinking skills necessary to not only discuss the course content with complexity and respect, but also to recognize how they can engage Indigenous perspectives in their personal and professional lives.