AIS 100 Introduction to American Indian Studies (Jordan, K)
TR 1:25-2:40, plus sections
(100 is not a prerequisite to 101)
This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the cultures and histories of American
Indian Nations north of Mexico to 1890. Lectures and discussion sections begin with a survey of
the Precolumbian Indian occupation of North America, and then examine the political, economic,
cultural, legal, and demographic consequences of European and American colonialism. The course
will emphasize the contemporary relevance of traditional values, as well as the ways in which the
deep past continues to affect the present and future of Indian peoples. Course materials will
address Indian histories and cultures from a variety of perspectives, including those of the
humanities, social sciences, and expressive arts.
AIS 195 Colonial Latin America (Graubart, K.)
MW 11:15-12:05
This course examines the colonial "encounter" of Iberia, Africa, and the New World,
which began in 1492. Topics include economic and social organization of the colonies; the cultural
hybridity that preceded as well as developed within colonialsim; the production of ethnicity and
race, slavery, forced labor and rebellion; and independence.
AIS 230 Cultures of Native North America (Lambert, B.)
MWF 1:25-2:15
A survey of the principal Inuit and American Indian culture areas north of Mexico. Selected
cultures will be examined to bring out distinctive features of the economy, social organization,
religion, and worldview. Although the course concentrates on traditional cultures, some lectures
and readings deal with changes in native ways of life that have occurred during the period of
European-Indian contact.
AIS 239 Seminar in Iroquois History (Parmentar, J)
MW 2:55-4:10
This interdisciplinary seminar explores the history and culture of Iroquois people from ancient
times, through their initial contacts with European settlers, to their present-day struggles and
achievements under colonial circumstances in North America.
AIS 311 Social Movements for Social Justice (Gonzales, A.)
TTH 2:55-4:10 (145 Warren Hall)
Social movements are collective efforts by relatively powerless groups of people to change
society. Typically conceptualized as political activity outside the institutional framework,
social movements are "politics by other means." This course examines the transnational
dimensions of social movements to assess the implications of globalization for political
mobilization and the ways that social movement actors engage global political process to effect
social change. Under what circumstances do movements emerge? How do global processes shape both
domestic and transnational political mobilization? How do movements internally organize and choose
political tactics and strategies to achieve their goals? How have social movements changed
history, identities, society, and politics? This course addresses these and related questions
through an examination of indigenous peoples movements in the United States, Canada, and Latin
America
AIS 353 Anthropology of Colonialism (Simpson, A.)
MWF 10:10-11:00
This course examines the relationship between colonialism and anthropology and the ways in which
the discipline has engaged this global process locally in North America. One of our aims in this
course is to gain an appreciation of colonialism both as a theory of political legitimacy and as
a set of governmental practices. As such, we will re-imagine North America in light of the
colonial project and its technologies of rule such as education, law, policy that worked to
transform indigenous notions of gender, property and territory. We will do so in order to
appreciate the ways in which these forms of knowledge and practice advanced the settlement of
space and place and both settled and unsettled peoples. This course will be comparative in scope
but will be grounded within the literature from Native North America.
AIS 404 Race and Ethnicity in Latin America (Graubart, K.)
This seminar explores the historical production of "race" and ethnicity in Latin America
context, beginning with the creation of "Indians" by European colonists and the
introduction of African slaves into already complex societies. The second half of the course will
address contemporary issues that stem from these colonial concerns: nationalism, the romantic
invocation of the indigenous past, cultural practices, land rights, political representation and
enduring racism.
AIS 430 American Indian Philosophies (Cheyfitz)
This course will focus on Native American (Alaskan, Hawaiian and Indian) thought from the
pre-invasion period (before 1492) to the present as it is contained in both oral narratives and
written texts (non-fiction, fiction, and poetry). The purpose of the course will be two-fold.
First, to understand how and in what forms Native Americans from a range of cultures think about
subject matters in a range of areas: social, spiritual, legal, political, aesthetic, scientific,
environmental, and historical. Second, to ask how Native philosophies can help us answer the
following question: what is a just community? Diné bahanè: the Navajo Creation
Story; Greg Sarris, Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts; Radin
and Blowsnake, The Trickster ; Julie Cruikshank, Angela Sidney, Kitty Smith and Annie Ned, Life
Lived Like a Story; William Apess, A Son of the Forest; Charles Eastman, The Soul of the Indian;
Black Elk and Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks; Linda Hogan, Power; Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony ;
Haunani-Kay Trask, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'I; Taiaiake
Alfred, Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto; Gerald Vizenor, Manifest Manners:
Narratives on Postindian Survivance ; Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land
and Life; Greg Cajete, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence; Vine Deloria, Jr. and
Clifford M. Lytle, American Indians, American Justice; and Wendy Rose, Bone. Permission of
instructor required.
AIS 600 Seminar in American Indian Studies (Simpson, A.)
M: 4:25 -7:25 (400 Caldwell)
This course is an interdisciplinary survey of the literature in Native American Studies. Readings
for this course engage themes of indigeneity, coloniality, power and "resistance". The
syllabus is formed from some of the "classic" and canonical works in Native American
Studies such as : Custer Died for Your Sins, but will also require an engagement with less
canonical works such as the: Red Man's Appeal to Justice as well as theoretcal and
historical contributions from scholars that work outside of Native American Studies. This course
is open to graduate students but advanced undergraduates are welcome to audit (With permission of
the instructor).
AIS 601 Colloquium / Proseminar Series (Gonzales, A.)
F : 9/9, 10/21, 11/11, 12/2 12-1:30 (400 Caldwell Hall)
Students should contact Prof. Gonzales by e-mail for more information :
aag27@cornell.edu
