Native American Indigenous Studies Minor

The five-course Native American and Indigenous Studies minor introduces students to the main questions and debates in the field. It broadly educates students while also promoting student and faculty scholarship about the complexity and diversity of the cultures and histories of Indigenous peoples in the Americas and around the world. The minor encourages students to understand and assess the unique relationships between Indigenous people and governments. It asks students to analyze the contributions of Indigenous peoples to global society as well as the difficulties confronting Indigenous peoples and tribal nations. Finally, it provides students with foundational knowledge to assist them in finding innovative solutions to any number of challenges facing Indigenous populations worldwide.

Native American and Indigenous studies (NAIS) is an interdisciplinary field that draws on research in many disciplines across the College of Arts and Science, from the humanities to the social and natural sciences. Students minoring in NAIS explore the histories, cultures, and politics of Indigenous populations both within the Americas and beyond by taking courses in a wide array of departments, including but not limited to anthropology, art history, Caribbean and Latin American studies, creative writing, English, environmental studies, global public health, history, music, politics, public policy, and social and cultural analysis.

Native American & Indigenous Studies (NAIS) is an interdisciplinary field that draws on research in many disciplines across the College, from the humanities to the social sciences and sciences. The five-course Native American & Indigenous Studies Minor at NYU will introduce undergraduate students to the main questions and debates concerning the field of Native American & Indigenous Studies.

DECLARING THE MINOR

In order to declare the NAIS minor, you must complete the NAIS Minor Declaration Form and submit it to the Undergraduate Program Administrator in the History Department.

You can fill out the NAIS Minor Planning Form to keep track of your courses.

COURSES

Required Course

Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies ANTH-UA 747.

Identical to HIST-UA 747, SCA-UA 747, and SPAN-UA 747. Required of all minors. Cornum, Pineda (and others) 4 points.

Introduces central questions and debates: Indigenous hidden historiesand oral histories; comparative Indigeneities; questions of “discovery” and colonialism; the politics and representations of lands, massacres, and museums; and aspects of law, gender, and sexuality. Begins by recognizing and locating the history and continued presence of the Native American Lenape people here in Mannahatta and ends with discussions about decolonizing research and Indigenous survival in the future. Uses both historical and ethnographic approaches in North America and beyond.

Elective Courses

One Gallatin course may be applied toward the minor. CAS students may apply 16 points taken in the other schools of NYU toward their degree. Students seeking to raise this limit so as to accommodate the course work of the minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies must consult with the College of Arts and Science Advising Center (726 Broadway, 7 th floor; 212-998-8130) or they should consult with the Director. Note that courses taken in the other schools of NYU do not count toward the 64-point residency requirement in CAS (-UA) courses for internal and external transfers to the College.

For course descriptions and prerequisites, please consult departmental websites and school bulletins.

  • Culture, Power, Society
    ANTH-UA 1 4 points.

    Language, Power, Identity
    ANTH-UA 16 4 points.

    Ethnography and Ethnohistory of the Andes
    ANTH-UA 47 4 points.

    Contemporary Issues in the Caribbean
    ANTH-UA 102 4 points.

    Peoples of Latin America
    ANTH-UA 104 4 points.

    Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality
    ANTH-UA 112 4 points.

    Culture, Power, and Visual Representation
    ANTH-UA 122 4 points.

    Media, Culture, and Society
    ANTH-UA 123 4 points.

    Prehistoric Hunters and Gatherers
    ANTH-UA 210 4 points.

    Decolonizing and Reassembling the Museum (Topical Seminar in Social and Cultural Anthropology I)
    ANTH-UA 320 4 points.

    Law, Anthropology, and Social Justice (Topical Seminar in Social and Cultural Anthropology I)
    ANTH-UA 320 4 points.

    Race, Difference, and Social Inequality
    ANTH-UA 323 4 points.

    Reimagining Community: Race, Nation, and the Politics of Belonging
    ANTH-UA 325 4 points.

    Language and Law
    ANTH-UA 329 4 points.

    Human Rights and Culture
    ANTH-UA 331 4 points.

    Violence, Gender, and the Law
    ANTH-UA 332 4 points.

    The Color of Race in the Americas: Post Racial Mythologies
    ANTH-UA 333 4 points.

    Anthropology and Transnationalism
    ANTH-UA 400 4 points.

    The Social Life of Food: Producing, Selling, Cooking, Sharing, Eating
    ANTH-UA 410 4 points.

    Anthropology of Indigenous Australia
    ANTH-UA 9037 4 points.

    Anthropology of Indigenous Art
    ANTH-UA 9038 4 points.

    Culture, Identity, and Politics in Latin America (in Spanish)
    ANTH-UA 9100 4 points.

  • Topics in Latin American Art: Colonial to Modern Indigenous Cinemas
    ARTH-UA 316 4 points.

    North American Indian Arts
    ARTH-UA 570 4 points.

    ARTH-UA 9850 Visual Cultures in Colonial and 19 th -C Latin America (NYU Buenos Aires) 4pts.

  • ICINE UT 110-2 Topics in Film: Indigenous Horror (NYU Tulsa) 2 pts.

  • Students must petition the director for permission to count one College Core Curriculum course toward the minor.

    Cultures and Contexts: Latin America
    CORE-UA 515 4 points.

    Cultures and Contexts: Indigenous Americas
    CORE-UA 519 4 points.

    Cultures and Contexts: Indigenous Australia
    CORE-UA 536 4 points.

    Cultures and Contexts: Asian/Pacific/American Cultures
    CORE-UA 539 4 points.

    Cultures and Contexts: New World Encounters
    CORE-UA 541 4 points.

    Expressive Culture:

    Native Arts in Contemporary America
    CORE-UA 9700 4 pts. (NYU Tulsa)

  • Environmental Crisis and Indigenous Resistance
    ENGL-UA 800.007 4pts.

  • Introduction to Andean Studies
    FYSEM-UA 900.001 4 pts.

    Native American Women Writers
    FYSEM-UA 812 4pts.

  • The U.S. to 1865
    HIST-UA 9 4 points.

    Africa before Colonialism
    HIST-UA 55 4 points.

    Native North America
    HIST-UA 87 4 points.

    Race and Ethnicity in Latin America
    HIST-UA 88 4 points.

    Colonial Latin America
    HIST-UA 743 4 points.

    History of Mexico
    HIST-UA 752 4 points.

    History of the Andes
    HIST-UA 753 4 points.

    Conquest and Origins of Colonialism: Latin America
    HIST-UA 757 4 points.

  • Beginning Quechua I
    LATC-UA 10 1 4 points.

    Beginning Quechua II
    LATC-UA 102 4 points.

    Intermediate Quechua I
    LATC-UA 103 4 points.

    Intermediate Quechua II
    LATC-UA 104 4 points.

    Students may inquire about taking Mixtec and/or Nahuatl at Lehman College for transfer credit. For other relevant languages not offered at NYU, consult with the CAS Office of Academic Affairs (726 Broadway, 7th floor; 212-998-8110) or with the Director.

  • INGC 101 Indigenous Cultures 4 points.

    SCAI -UF-401.002 Population Politics: Indigenous, Migrant, and Displaced Populations 4 points.

    SCAI-UF-401.008 Critical Voices in Environmental Justice and Racial Justice 4 points.


  • Indigenous Languages of the Americas
    LING-UA 9 4 points.

    Language in Latin America
    LING-UA 30 4 points.

    Introduction to African Languages
    LING-UA 9058 4 points.

  • Introduction to Indigenous Cultures
    INDG1001 4 points.

    Indigenous Art and Culture
    INDG2002 4 points.

    Indigenous Studies Methodologies
    INDG3001 4 points.

    Introduction to Indigenous History
    INDG1002 4 points.

    Indigenous Wellbeing
    INDG2004 4 points.

    Indigenous Land and Culture
    INDG2001 4 points.

    Learning an Australian Language
    INDG2005 4 points.

    Race, Racism, and Indigenous Australia
    INDG3003 4 points.

    Re-awakening Australian Languages
    INDG3005 4 points.

    De/colonizing Indigenous Education
    INDG3006 4 points.

  • Comparative U.S. Ethnic Studies
    SCA-UA 224 4 points.

    Intersections: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in U.S. History 
    SCA-UA 230 4 points.

    Social Movements and Alternative Futures
    SCA-UA 237 4 points.

    Topics: Reading the Land
    SCA-UA 280 004 4 points.

    Critical Indigenous Theory
    SCA-UA 372 4 points.

    Food, Land, and Power
    SCA-UA 380 4 points.

    The Australian Experience
    SCA-UA 9809 4 points.

  • The Iberian Atlantic
    SPAN-UA 201 (Formerly SPAN-UA 300) 4 points.

    Indigenous Hip Hop Generation: Edutainment and Sonic Sovereignty (in Spanish)
    SPAN-UA 311-011

  • Students must petition the director for permission to count one Gallatin course toward the minor.

    Narratives of African Civilizations
    IDSEM-UG 1197 4 points.

    Feminism, Empire, and Postcoloniality
    IDSEM-UG 1523 4 points.

    Aesthetic Justice
    IDSEM-UG 1883 4 points.

    Indigenous Futures: Decolonizing NYC—Documenting the Lenape Trail
    IDSEM-UG 1900 6 points.

    Currents and Protocols: Indigenous Feminisms in Contemporary Art
    IDSEM-UG 2129 4pts.

    Settler Colonialisms and Black/Indigenous Resistances throughout Abya Yala and Beyond
    IDSEM-UG 2171 4pts.

    Have you Eaten Yet? Black/Indigenous Foodways Across and Beyond the Americas
    IDSEM-UG 2204 4pts.

    Anthropology of Indigenous Australia
    IDSEM-UG 9500 4pts.

    Latin American Indigeneities: Resistance, Resilience, and Renewal (NYU Buenos Aires) IDSEM-UG 9156

    This City is so Indigenous
    RSRCH-UG 1001 4 points.

FACULTY

Professors

Saldaña (Social and Cultural Analysis), Tuck (Native American and Indigenous Studies, Steinhardt and Gallatin)

Associate Professors

Anderson (Anthropology), Goetz (History), Kisin (Anthropology, Gallatin) Needham (History), Thomson (History), Trujillo (English)

Assistant Professors

Agbasoga (Anthropology, Gallatin), Aroni (Spanish and Portuguese), Cornum (Social and Cultural Analysis), Lockhart (English), Pineda (Spanish and Portuguese). Clinical Associate Professor González (Latin American and Caribbean Studies)

STEERING COMMITTEE

Director
Associate Professor Goetz (History)

Steering Committee
Associate Professor Anderson (Anthropology)
Assistant Professor Cornum (Social and Cultural Analysis)
Associate Professor Goetz (History)
Associate Professor Kisin (Anthropology, Gallatin)
Associate Professor Needham (History)
Assistant Professor Pineda (Spanish and Portuguese)
Professor Saldaña (Social and Cultural Analysis)
Associate Professor Trujillo (English)