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Spring Courses in American Indian Studies

AIS 340: American Indian Children and Families
Instructor: Dian Million
MW 11:30 – 1:20
Cross-cultural survey of Indian child rearing, family structure, and related social issues. Includes historical changes in family structure, value orientation and adaptation to a bicultural environment, education, child welfare, health problems, and aging.
I&S, DIV. 5 credits.

AIS 379: Powwow: Tradition and Innovation
Instructor: Scott Pinkham
MW 11:30 – 1:20
Explores the historical and cultural roots of powwow. Discusses the ways this indigenous Native art form has adapted since prehistoric times.
I&S/VLPA, DIV. 5 credits.

AIS 441: Gender in Native American Societies

Instructor: Dian Million
MW 2:30 – 4:20
Examines gender roles, identity, and relations in Native American pre- and post-contact societies. Analyzes how contact with European gender customs influenced and altered traditional gender practices, especially in regard to women’s social position and the roles of the third/fourth genders in Native American communities.
I&S, DIV. 5 credits.

AIS 443: Indigenous Films, Sovereign Visions
Instructor: Dan Hart
TuTh 2:30 – 4:20
Cultural examination of images of Native people in cinema and popular culture based on social science writings and films by or about Natives in the United States and Canada. Offered: jointly with GWSS 442.
I&S/VLPA, DIV. 5 credits.

AIS 480: Indigenous Resistance Movements in the United States, Canada, and Mexico
(NOTE: Currently appears in time schedule as AIS 475 but will be changed)
Instructor: Charlotte Cote
TuTh 1:30 – 3:20
This course examines Indigenous resistance and resurgence movements in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We will explore the political and social contexts in which these movements arose, utilizing the following themes to frame our analysis: colonialism and treaty, land and water rights; political mobilization, activism and cultural resurgence; food sovereignty and sustainable self-determination; the UNDRIP and Indigenous rights; environmental justice and Idle No More; and “Water Is Life” and the NoDAPL movement.
I&S. 5 credits.