Native American & Indigenous Studies

Native American and Indigenous Studies is an interdisciplinary program grounded in a partnership between students, faculty, staff and local communities, with a global Indigenous focus centered in local and regional contexts. We empower students to recognize, honor and value Indigenous ways of knowing, so that they can work in collaboration with Indigenous communities and all their relations.

Minor

22 semester hours

Core courses in Native American and Indigenous studies
6 semester hours

Students must take the following core courses that introduce the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies and explore key approaches and issues within it.

• NAIS 111: Interconnections (1)
• NAIS 112: Interconnections (1)
• NAIS 250: Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies (4)

Northwest Language and Worldview
8 semester hours

Students will take 8 semester hours that explore Indigenous language and worldviews of the Pacific Northwest. Equivalent coursework or demonstrated fluency to an equivalent level in another Indigenous language may be substituted for SOLU 101 and SOLU 102.

• SOLU 101: Southern Lushootseed: Introduction to Oral Language (4)

And one of these four courses exploring Northwest Indigenous language and worldviews.

• NAIS 495: Internship (1-4)
• RELI 397: Indigenous Religions and Cultures of the Pacific Northwest (4)
• SOLU 102: Southern Lushootseed: Oral Language Dialogue (4)

Electives
8 semester hours

Students select 8 semester hours from the following courses that study Indigenous topics and perspectives.

• ENGL 213: Topics in Literature (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Literature of the PNW’)
• ENGL 288: Special Topics in English (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Indigenous Literature of North America’)
• HISP 322: Latin American Cultural Studies (4)
• HIST 333: Colonization and Genocide in Native North America (4)
• HIST 348: Lewis and Clark: History and Memory (4)
• HIST 351: History of Western and Pacific Northwestern U.S. (4)
• NAIS 230: Indigenous Creation Narratives of the Americas (4)
• NAIS 321: Visual Sovereignty and Indigenous Film (4)
• NAIS 244: Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples (4)
• NAIS 286: Sámi Film and the Indigenous North (4)
• NAIS 363: Race and Indigeneity (4)
• NURS 404: Healthcare Diversity (4)
• RELI 227: Introduction to Christian Theologies (4)
  (when the topic is ‘Native American Theologies’)
• RELI 236: Native American Religious Traditions (4)
• RELI 397: Indigenous Religions and Culture of the Pacific Northwest (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• SOLU 101: Southern Lushootseed: Introduction to Oral Language (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• SOLU 102: Southern Lushootseed: Oral Language Dialogue (4)
  (if not used to satisfy the Northwest Language and Worldview requirement above)
• Approved Study Away courses (4-8)
  • Up to 8 study away semester hours may be applied toward the minor upon completion of PLU’s semester-long Gateway program in Oaxaca, when accompanied by an internship experience with an Indigenous-led organization. Students may also petition the chair to count up to 8 study away semester hours applied toward the minor from our Gateway program in Namibia or from our Featured programs in Australia and New Zealand.