Minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies

Students on Summer 2019, Fall 2019, or Spring 2020 requirements NAISMIN

Requirements

The minor requires at least 15 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.

Introductory course. One (1) course:
- AMST-A 150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
AMST-A 150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to Native American and Indigenous cultures, literature, history, arts, values, lifeways, spirituality, and social and political institutions. Focuses on global and hemispheric elements including North America.
- Summer 2025CASE DUScourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE DUScourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
Intermediate course. One (1) course:
- AMST-A 275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas
AMST-A 275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A survey of some basic aspects of indigenous lifeways in the Americas, this course introduces comparative cultural analysis, providing a foundational course for those interested in thinking about how others think and how we think about otherness. Students will examine mythology, ritual, health, art, and philosophy within the context of colonialism and globalization.
- Summer 2025CASE DUScourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE DUScourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE DUScourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
Advanced Electives*. Three (3) courses:
- ANTH-B 472 Bioanthropology of Aboriginal America
- ANTH-E 319 Native American Religions
- ANTH-E 320 Indigenous Populations of North America
- ANTH-E 321 Peoples of Mexico
- ANTH-E 322 Peoples of Brazil
- ANTH-E 327 Native Amazonians and the Environment
- ANTH-E 340 Indigenous Populations of Mexico and Central America
- ANTH-E 422 Native American and Indigenous Media
- Up to two (2) of the following:
  - ANTH-L 310 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language I
  - ANTH-L 311 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language II
  - ANTH-L 312 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language I
  - ANTH-L 313 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language II
- ANTH-L 320 Native American Languages
- ANTH-P 330 Historical Archaeology
- ANTH-P 350 Archaeology of Mexico
- ANTH-P 361 Archaeology of the Midwestern United States
- ANTH-P 363 North American Prehistory through Fiction
- ANTH-P 370 Archaeology of the Andes
- ANTH-X 480 Fieldwork in Archaeology
- ARTH-A 350 Topics in African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian American Art
- ARTH-A 351 Art of the South Pacific
- ARTH-A 452 Art of Pre-Columbian America
- ENG-L 364 Native American Literature
- FOLK-F 315 Latin American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
- FOLK-F 352 Native American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
- FOLK-F 353 Native American Film and Video
- HIST-A 300 Issues in United States History (Approved topics: "NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN" (TPC 69))
- HIST-J 300 Seminar In History (Approved topics: "NATIVES AND NEWCOMERS IN EARLY AMERICA" (TPC 94))
- POLS-X 490 Undergraduate Readings in Political Science (approved topics only; see academic advisor)
- POLS-Y 337 Latin American Politics
ANTH-B 472 Bioanthropology of Aboriginal America

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Bioanthropological survey of past and present aboriginal inhabitants of North and South America: origins and antiquity, archaeological and ethnic relationships.
ANTH-E 319 Native American Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces religions of the peoples indigenous to North America. Topics include traditional and contemporary rituals, mythology, folklore, and symbolism occurring throughout these indigenous cultures. Explores areas including art, architecture, cosmology, sustenance, trade, history, gender.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 320 Indigenous Populations of North America
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Ethnographic survey of culture areas from the Arctic to Panama plus cross-cultural analysis of interrelations of culture, geographical environment, and language families.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 321 Peoples of Mexico
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Surveys indigenous and mestizo peoples within the context of the larger nation, as well as the effects of urbanization, emigration, and globalization in contemporary Mexico.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 322 Peoples of Brazil
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces contemporary Brazil while examining Brazil\'s colonial history and legacies and the political, demographic, cultural, economic, and environmental transformation of the country. Examines implications of these processes for indigenous populations, and considers current societal changes as related to racial and socioeconomic inequalities.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 327 Native Amazonians and the Environment
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of how native peoples in the Amazon Basin have used the environment from prehistoric times to the present. Examination of archaeological evidence, current pressures from development processes, and indigenous knowledge as the key to balancing conservation and development.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 340 Indigenous Populations of Mexico and Central America
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: ANTH-E 105, ANTH-E 200, ANTH-E 303, or sophomore standing
Description
Ethnographic survey of indigenous populations of Mexico and Central America, both historical and contemporary. Considers these populations in the context of wider political contexts and relationships.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-E 422 Native American and Indigenous Media
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of contemporary Native American and global indigenous representation and communication, including oral performance and media. Explores the poetics and politics of media and performance in the context of indigenous histories, cultures, and experiences of colonization. Examines the use of performance forms as symbolic resources in literature, film, the Internet, music and television. Addresses intersections of gender, class and race in indigenous media worlds.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of ANTH-E 422 or CMCL-C 430.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-L 310 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language I

Credits
4
Prerequisites
None
Description
An introduction to Lakota (Sioux), a Native American language spoken on the Northern Plains of the United States. Course focuses on developing elementary reading and writing skills as well as oral fluency in the Lakota language within the context of Lakota culture.

ANTH-L 311 Elementary Lakota (Sioux) Language II

Credits
4
Prerequisites
None
Description
Continues work begun in ANTH-L 310, focusing on continued development of elementary reading and writing skills as well as oral fluency in the Lakota (Sioux) language within the context of Lakota culture.

ANTH-L 312 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language I

Credits
4
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of more complex Lakota grammatical structures, with emphasis on development of active reading, writing, and speaking skills.

ANTH-L 313 Intermediate Lakota (Sioux) Language II

Credits
4
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of more complex Lakota grammatical structures, with emphasis on development of active reading, writing, and speaking skills.
ANTH-L 320 Native American Languages
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introductory survey of the indigenous languages of the Americas. Topics covered include history of the study of Native American languages, genetic and typological classifications, structures of selected languages, the comparative (historical) study of selected language families, and the interplay between language and culture. Diversity of Native American languages is emphasized.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-P 330 Historical Archaeology
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines archaeology in North America beginning with the long and complex history of Native American/European interactions. Considers North American social systems, interaction with and exploitation of the environment, technologies, and material culture. Theories and methods used by historical archaeologists will also be emphasized.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-P 350 Archaeology of Mexico
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Surveys the archaeology of Mexico. Traces cultural developments of indigenous peoples from the Olmec to the present day. Examines issues, controversies, and current debates in Mexican archaeology and Mexican heritage politics. Topics include the earliest villages, initial complexity, writing, craft production, urbanization, gender ideologies, religion, warfare, colonialism, and national identity.
- Summer 2025CASE GCCcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE GCCcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE GCCcourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-P 361 Archaeology of the Midwestern United States
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A survey of cultures and societies in the midwestern United States from the earliest human occupations until initial European contact. Material culture, sustainability, ecology, and religion are viewed through remains recovered across the Midwest, with hands-on exposure to artifacts and data.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-P 363 North American Prehistory through Fiction
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Students consider fictionalized accounts of life in prehistoric North America, written by anthropologists, Native Americans, and novelists, as a means to think critically and creatively about the past. They explore the role and place of narrative and imagination in constructions of the past and consider how authors utilize available data.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ANTH-P 370 Archaeology of the Andes

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Covers cultural change in Andean South America, including early hunters and gatherers, agriculture, the growth of regional civilizations, technological and artistic achievement, and the rise and dissolution of the Inca Empire.

ANTH-X 480 Fieldwork in Archaeology

Credits
1–8 credit hours
Prerequisites
None
Description
Archaeological work directed toward field techniques: excavation and preservation of materials, surveying, photography, and cataloging. 1 credit hour per full week of fieldwork.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of ANTH-P 405 or ANTH-X 480.

ARTH-A 350 Topics in African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian American Art

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Special topics in the history and study of African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian American art.
Repeatability
May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours in ARTH-A 350 and FINA-A 350.
ARTH-A 351 Art of the South Pacific
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Survey of the visual art traditions of Australia and the South Pacific Island groups of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Focuses on style regions, individual island styles, and the cultural and historical contexts of objects. Emphasis is on traditional arts but contemporary forms are also discussed.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of ARTH-A 351 or FINA-A 351.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ARTH-A 452 Art of Pre-Columbian America
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Survey of precontact arts of the Americas south of the Rio Grande. Emphasis on sculptural, architectural, and ceramic arts of ancient Mexico and Peru.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of ARTH-A 452 or FINA-A 452.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-L 364 Native American Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Surveys traditional and modern literature by American Indians, especially of the high plains and southwest culture areas, with particular attention to the image of the Indian in both native and white literature.
- Summer 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
FOLK-F 315 Latin American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Cultural and functional analysis of traditional folklore or music genres developed in the cultures of Latin America. Emphasis on origin and the diffusion of folklore, folklife, and folk music as well as the peoples.
Repeatability
May be repeated once when topics vary.
- Summer 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
FOLK-F 352 Native American Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Comparative examination of various verbal, musical, and dance forms of Native American societies. Consideration of cultural systems of Native Americans within the context of general American culture.
Repeatability
May be repeated once when topics vary.
- Summer 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
FOLK-F 353 Native American Film and Video
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the study of Native American images and representations. Focuses on ethnographic, documentary, animated, and feature films from 1920 to the present. Surveying the themes of assimilation, contemporary politics, and religiosity, students will watch films, read articles, and respond to both mediums critically.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
HIST-A 300 Issues in United States History
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study and analysis of selected historical issues through the whole of United States history. Topics will vary but usually cut across fields, regions, and periods.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 9 credit hours.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
HIST-J 300 Seminar In History
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The refinement of students\' skills as historians; will focus on the skills of writing, interpretation, historical reasoning, discussion, and research.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic and the authorization of the history undergraduate advisor for a total of 6 credit hours.
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
POLS-X 490 Undergraduate Readings in Political Science

Credits
1–6 credit hours
Prerequisites
Consent of instructor
Description
Individual readings and research.
Repeatability
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours in POLS-X 490 and POLS-Y 480.
POLS-Y 337 Latin American Politics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Comparative analysis of political change in major Latin American countries, emphasizing alternative explanations of national and international developments; examination of impact of political parties, the military, labor and peasant movements, Catholic Church, multinational corporations, regional organizations, and United States on politics; public policy processes in democratic and authoritarian regimes.
- Summer 2025CASE GCCcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE GCCcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE GCCcourse
- Summer 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2025CASE SHcourse
  
  Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
Minor GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
1. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
2. At least 9 credit hours in the minor must be completed at the 300–499 level.
3. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the minor.
4. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the minor—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
5. Exceptions to minor requirements may be made with the approval of the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Notes

* The electives should be selected in consultation with the NAIS advisor and the Chair of the Committee on NAIS, who will help the student develop a plan of study appropriate to his or her academic and career goals.