Native American Studies Major

Major Requirements

The major in Native American Studies consists of nine courses and includes the following requirements:

One of the Following

• ANTH 358 - Native American Cultures (N)
• HIST 356/NAST 356 - Global Indigenous History   
• HIST 358 - Conquest and Colony: Cultural Encounters in the Americas (L,N)

North American (N) and Latin American (L) Courses

Seven elective courses, at least two courses must be taken in each of these areas:

North American (N) and Latin American (L)    

• ALST 204 - Performing Bolivian Music (L)
• ANTH 228 - Women and Gender in Prehistory (L)
• ANTH 244 - Who Owns Culture? (L,N)
• ANTH 355 - Ancient Aztec Civilization (L)
• ANTH 358 - Native American Cultures (N)
• ANTH 359 - Archaeology and Ethnology of Southwestern Indians (Study Group)
  (N)
• CORE C131 - Native Oklahoma (N)
• CORE C150 - Native Peoples of the Great Plains (N)
• CORE C159 - Maya (L)
• CORE C176 - Indigenous North America (N)
• CORE C188 - Haudenosaunee (N)
• ENGL 204 - Native American Writers (N)
• HIST 223 - The American West (N)
• HIST 224 - Introduction to Environmental History (L,N)
• HIST 243/NAST 243 - Native American History  (N)
• HIST 356/NAST 356 - Global Indigenous History  (N, L) 
• HIST 358 - Conquest and Colony: Cultural Encounters in the Americas (L,N)
• HIST 360/NAST 360 - Borderlands of North America  (N) 
• NAST 291 - Independent Study
• NAST 300 - Continuity in Pueblo Communities (N)
• NAST 302 - Contemporary Issues in the Native American Southwest (Study Group) and NAST 302L (N)
• NAST 303 - Service Learning in the Native American Southwest (Study Group) (N)
• NAST 304 - Contemporary Issues in Native American Studies (N)
• NAST 320/RELG 320 - Native American Religious Freedom  (N)
• NAST 391 - Independent Study
• NAST 491 - Independent Study
• RELG 203 - American Indian Religions (N)

400-Level Course

An approved 400-level course or an approved 400-level independent study project

Additional Electives (with permission)

With prior permission of the director of Native American Studies, the following courses may also be counted among the North and Latin American electives when they have appropriate course content or a research paper is undertaken in one of these areas:

• ANTH 102 - Culture, Diversity, and Inequality (L,N)
• ANTH 205 - Archaeology of Warfare (L)
• ANTH 341 - Archaeology of Death & Burial (L)
• ANTH 361 - Ancient Environments and Human Legacies (L)
• CORE C171 - Mexico (L)
• CORE C177 - Peru (L)
• CORE C193 - Brazil (L)
• CORE C199 - Bolivia (L)
• HIST 209 - The Atlantic World, 1492 - 1800 (L, N)
• HIST 231 - Resistance and Revolt in Latin America (L)
• SPAN 468 - Visions and Re-visions of the Spanish Conquest: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (L)

Recommended Engagement in Archaeological or Anthropological Fieldwork

Students are strongly encouraged to participate in archaeological or anthropological fieldwork and/or first-hand curricular contact with a Native American community (e.g., NAST 303).

With the advice and consent of the director, students are encouraged to enroll for a summer or term in field schools in archaeology or social anthropology, or Native American community colleges. Such approved programs may earn Native American Studies course credit.

Students are further encouraged to participate in non-curricular opportunities such as summer archaeological fieldwork with a Colgate faculty member or hands-on research with Native American collections in the Longyear Museum of Anthropology.

Honors and High Honors

Students interested in pursuing honors can find the additional requirements on the Native American Studies program page.

Native American Studies Program

For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, etc., please visit the Native American Studies program catalog page.