Dancers at the St. Paul, MN Winter Carnival, approximately late 1800s.
Wider Contexts and perspectives
This course provides an introduction to the cultural and historical background of four groups in the United States: African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans. Emphasis is on race relations and the distinguishing characteristics of these cultures as reflected in the academic disciplines of the creative and performing arts, the humanities, the social and behavioral sciences and the general area of popular culture. Contributions to cultural pluralism are accentuated as well as the special issues of identity faced by these Americans. This course emphasizes literary texts.
This course was focused on oral traditions, and the Trickster figure. We read a book about the Winnebago trickster.
Themes of the Trickster pdf paper
What makes a person capable of repression? Who obeys morally unjust orders to torture or kill innocent victims? What causes genocide? Who risks his or her life to defend others' rights? Using case studies from around the world, this course looks at various explanations for the range of ways individuals respond to immoral government actions, with special emphasis on theories of political psychology.
How do anthropologists study other cultures? Peoples around the world create different realities through the ways they conceptualize experience (cultures) and how they organize themselves to do what they need to do (societies). Anthropologists describe and compare cultures and societies, focusing on different aspects such as family and kinship, inequality and power, religion and values, economy and technology, cultural and social change. This course is primarily open to first year students or students in certain accredited programs. Offered both semesters.
Hunters and gatherers, herders and agriculturalists who have developed successful strategies for utilizing natural resources while maintaining ecological balance are in danger of losing their ways of life. Deforestation, dams, pollution, global warming, desert expansion, and population pressure -- the products of globalization and economic development -- are threatening the loss of invaluable cultural knowledge as well as sustainable adaptations. Students explore humans and the environment and the survival of indigenous peoples. Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
Sovereignty and Paradigm Wars pdf paper
Origins of Indigenism pdf paper
Students explore social, political, and religious movements, focusing on case studies of struggles utilizing both violent and nonviolent tactics. The course emphasizes the historical and cultural contexts of social movements, including tradition, ritual and symbolism, colonialism, national borders, and indigenous peoples. The role of cultural identities in the creation of communities of resistance and movements for social change is also a central issue. Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
Students explore the continuing significance of color, class, and immigration in the U.S., with a focus on the experiences and concerns of African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asian-Americans. The course examines the nature and functions of prejudice; the relationship among race, class and gender; the persistence of racism and inequality; and social policies and social movements intended to create greater social justice. Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
This course examines the development of American culture and society from the Columbian encounter through the Civil War. Topics include the interaction of Europeans, Africans, and indigenous peoples in early America; the social development of the British colonies; the evolution of American slavery; the Revolution and the Constitution; industrialization, expansion, and reform in the 19th century; and the Civil War. Offered most years.
By examining the interaction of people and environment on the North American continent from the 15th century to the present, this course shows how history "takes place" in ecological contexts that change over time. Students compare Native American and Euro-American religious beliefs, social values, economic aspirations, and technological developments and examine their consequences for the flora, fauna, and peoples of the continent. Offered most years.
Native Americans
As an overview of the variety of belief systems and ways of life, this course explores ethnographic case studies of Native American groups from the major culture areas of North America north of Mexico. Topics addressed in this course include language families, social organization systems, ecological and economic adaptations, material culture, religions, and revitalization movements. This course will also examine the impacts of colonial encounters upon Native American cultures. Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
What do self-determination and cultural identity mean for Native American peoples today? Students examine the impact of colonization on Native American peoples, including federal policies, treaty rights, and sovereignty. Issues include economy and politics on reservations, family and gender roles, orality and literacy, persistence and revitalization of religious life and culture, urban life, and recent social movements and organizations. Offered Fall or Spring Semester.
Nesper and Pickering pdf paper
This course explores the stories and images European Americans have created and told themselves about Native Peoples of North America. What are the meanings of these stories and images? How do they relate to the realities, past of present, of Native Americans? What effects have they had on America’s indigenous peoples? We examine and analyze texts (historical and literary) of various kinds, media (films, television, advertising, music, etc.), and other examples of images of “Indians.” We also explore how Native Americans have resisted these images and used them politically.
Alcatraz Occupation pdf project
Selling of the Indian pdf paper
This course is a comprehensive introduction to Native American history and culture that covers fifteen thousand years of human life in the Americas. Topics examined include Native religions; European invasions and colonization; Indian Removal; the Reservation system; the effects of U.S. "Indian Policy"; Red Power activism; the recent American Indian Renaissance; and the ongoing struggle for Native sovereignty in U.S. courts. Students also have the opportunity to conduct research individually and in groups to study in greater detail a tribe or issue of their choice. Offered most years.
The course examined Native American responses to colonialism, from the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries. It's scope was continental, ranging from Pueblo resistance to Spanish missionaries and soldiers, the creation of the "Pays d'en haut" in the Great Lakes region, to the establishment of a commercial "new order" in the South. Also, we took a look at the limits and possibilities of writing history from Native perspectives.
Change and Continuity in the Colonial Period
Dakota
Review of historical accounts of the Dakota by Native and non-Native authors. Introduction to research using primary documents. Focuses specifically on the Dakota people, which is a research specialty of the professor (Carolyn Anderson). Cannot be done intensively as part of another course.
Development of the four skills of language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Oral drills and in-class participation focused on questions and answers.
Further development of language acquisition skills with oral drills and in-class participation focused on questions and answers.
Other papers:
HIST 183 Hope in the American Indian Movement