American Indian and Native Studies
Director
Coordinator
Affiliated faculty
- Margaret Beck (Anthropology), Michelene Pesantubbee (Religious Studies/American Studies), Phillip Round (English/Interdisciplinary Programs)
Undergraduate certificate: American Indian and native studies
Graduate certificate: American Indian and native studies
Web site: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ainsp/
The American Indian and Native Studies Program (AINSP) is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the histories, cultures, literatures, and contemporary legal and political issues of Native North Americans and other indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Students taking AINSP courses begin to understand historical and contemporary social issues among indigenous peoples of the Americas. They acquire expertise for employment involving cross-cultural work through experience with ethnic, social, and political diversity. They also gain a background for more specialized or advanced work in a variety of social science disciplines, including anthropology, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology, and religious studies.
A certificate in AINSP complements degrees in professional areas such as health care, business, social work, and law.
The American Indian and Native Studies Program is administered by the Department of American Studies.
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Undergraduate Programs of Study
- Certificate in American Indian and Native Studies
- Minor in American Indian and native studies
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences grants the undergraduate certificate and minor.
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Certificate
The undergraduate Certificate in American Indian and Native Studies requires a minimum of 21 s.h. The certificate program is open to current University of Iowa undergraduate students and to all individuals who hold a bachelor's degree and are not enrolled in a graduate or professional degree program. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in work for the certificate. Completion of the certificate is noted on the student's transcript.
A student may earn the certificate or the minor in American Indian and native studies, but not both.
Students plan their programs in close cooperation with AINSP faculty advisors. They may count a maximum of 6 s.h. of course work from their major toward the AINSP undergraduate certificate. Courses applied toward the AINSP certificate also may be used to complete the General Education Program or the requirements for a major or a minor.
The AINSP undergraduate certificate requires the following course work.
All of these:
At least 3 s.h. from these:
And:
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Minor
The minor in American Indian and native studies requires a minimum of 15 s.h., including 12 s.h. taken at The University of Iowa. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Course work in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass. Students may count a maximum of 6 s.h. of course work from a major toward the AINSP minor.
A student may earn the minor or the certificate in American Indian and native studies, but not both.
The minor includes the following course work.
One of these:
At least 3 s.h. from these:
And:
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Cultural Experience
The program highly recommends that students have an in-depth American Indian cultural experience, usually through study or volunteer work, before they complete their undergraduate requirements. Consult AINSP faculty advisors about available options.
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Graduate Program of Study
- Certificate in American Indian and Native Studies
The Graduate College confers the graduate certificate.
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Certificate
The graduate Certificate in American Indian and Native Studies requires a minimum of 20 s.h. in courses approved for AINSP and numbered 100 or above (see "Associated Courses" and "Courses" below). Graduate students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 3.00 in work toward the certificate. They may count a maximum of 6 s.h. of course work from their major field of study toward the AINSP graduate certificate.
Graduate students must apply to the academic coordinator to be admitted to the AINSP graduate certificate program. Students who earned an undergraduate certificate in the program may not receive a graduate certificate.
The AINSP graduate certificate requires the following course work.
Graduate students may petition the AINSP steering committee to include a 2000-level course chosen from the "Associated Courses" and "Courses" lists.
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Associated Courses
AINSP accepts the following courses as electives. Although these courses are not offered by AINSP, they are concerned in part with Native North Americans or other indigenous peoples of the Americas. Students may petition the AINSP faculty for permission to use other relevant courses as electives for the undergraduate or graduate certificate or the minor.
For course descriptions, see the appropriate department sections of the Catalog.
Anthropology
Art and Art History
Education
English
History
Spanish and Portuguese
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Courses
| 149:049 (AINS:1049) Introduction to American Indian and Native Studies | 3 s.h. |
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Themes and methodologies in the study of American Indians and other indigenous peoples; approaches from anthropology, history, law, literature, other disciplines. Offered fall semesters.
GE: Values, Society, and Diversity. Same as 045:049 (AMST:1049). | | |
| 149:065 (AINS:1700) Sex, Gender, and Nature in the Culture of Native America | 3 s.h. |
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Historical notions of gender, sexuality, and marriage among selected Native American cultures; how these beliefs conflicted with colonial European Christian beliefs; native peoples' sacred stories of creation and human origins compared with Euro‑Christian perspectives; how Europeans' sexual and gender violence toward native peoples served as a tool of colonial oppression and conquest.
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| 149:082 (AINS:2078) American Indian Women: Myth, Ritual, and Sacred Power | 3 s.h. |
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Participation of women and girls in native religious traditions; obstacles to knowing and understanding native women's religious roles and experiences.
Same as 032:078 (RELS:2778). | | |
| 149:099 (AINS:2999) Powwow Culture and History | 3 s.h. |
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Service learning experience working on the American Indian powwow at The University of Iowa; academic study of history and culture of Native American powwows.
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| 149:107 (AINS:4502) History of Mexico | 3 s.h. |
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Mexican history since the eve of the Spanish invasion, with focus on the national period; may include ethnic groups, conquest and demographic disaster, native survival, labor and migration, social protest and rebellions, nationhood, regional differences, religions, popular culture, economic growth and distribution, state building, international relations; survey.
Same as 16W:107 (HIST:4502). | | |
| 149:113 (AINS:3441) Native American Literature | 3 s.h. |
|
English majors may apply this course to the following area and/or period requirement. AREA: American Literature and Culture. PERIOD: 20th/21st‑Century Literature.
Same as 008:153 (ENGL:3441). | | |
| 149:154 (AINS:3554) Native Histories and Endurance in the Greater Midwest | 3 s.h. |
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Indigenous histories in the Great Lakes region; colonization and decolonization as ongoing processes rather than historic events.
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| 149:155 (AINS:3555) Exploring American Icons: Cowboys, Indians, Bikers | 3 s.h. |
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Cowboys, Indians, and bikers as cultural icons from historic to contemporary times; examination of ideologies that circulate within and through these three groups as part of expressions of American identities.
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| 149:158 (AINS:4560) Native American Women and Religious Change | 3 s.h. |
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Native women's diverse experiences and their roles in native societies, examined through contact experiences between native and nonnative peoples; changes in women's roles in context of interactions between native people, missionaries, European colonists, and Americans; approaches to re‑imaging women's early contact roles presented in cultural narratives, archaeology, history, ethnography, and missionary records.
Same as 131:159 (GWSS:4560), 032:158 (RELS:4920). | | |
| 149:159 (AINS:3258) Southwestern Archaeology | 3 s.h. |
|
Anthropological overview of prehistoric cultures of the American Southwest; emphasis on understanding archaeological arguments concerning major processes in the past.
Same as 113:159 (ANTH:3258). | | |
| 149:160 (AINS:4289) The Atlantic World c. 1450-1850 | 3 s.h. |
|
Interactions between peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas between the 15th and mid‑19th centuries, interconnected system of exchange that defied national and imperial boundaries; encounters between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans in different parts of the Americas; forced and voluntary resettlement of Africans and Europeans overseas; development of plantation slave societies; biological consequences of transatlantic contact; circulation of people, goods, and ideas; development of creole societies; era of revolutions; abolition of slavery.
Same as 16W:160 (HIST:4289). | | |
| 149:163 (AINS:4272) Native Americans in the Age of Empires, ca. 1500-1815 | 3 s.h. |
|
Overview of major issues in Native American history during the period of European Imperialism in North America. Recommendations: junior or senior standing.
Same as 16A:163 (HIST:4272). | | |
| 149:167 (AINS:3257) North American Archaeology | 3 s.h. |
|
Prehistoric cultural development north of Mexico from initial occupation to European contact and conquest; emphasis on dynamics of culture change.
Same as 113:167 (ANTH:3257). | | |
| 149:178 (AINS:8593) Federal Indian Law | 3 s.h. |
|
Specialized body of law that allocates power and authority in Indian country and has grown up around Native American peoples and their reservations; sovereignty arrangements, jurisdiction, federal Indian policy, tribal self‑government.
Same as 091:303 (LAW:8593). | | |
| 149:195 (AINS:4095) Directed Cultural Experience | arr. |
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In‑depth American Indian cultural experience, usually study or volunteer work, under supervision of an AINSP faculty member.
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| 149:199 (AINS:4000) Special Topics: American Indian and Native Studies | arr. |
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American Indians and other indigenous peoples; concepts, problems, issues.
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| 149:299 (AINS:6099) Independent Study Project | arr. |
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Completion of a significant scholarly project that addresses the scope, goals, and ongoing development of American Indian and native studies as an academic field; findings presented on campus (e.g., AINSP steering committee or in association with an AINSP‑sponsored event) or at an academic conference.
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