University of California, Los Angeles College of Letters and Science 67 courses
The American Indian Studies BA program is designed to offer a coherent and comprehensive curriculum in American Indian cultures, societies, and contemporary issues in addition to valuable background in more traditional disciplines such as anthropology, art history, economics, education, history, law, linguistics, literature, sociology, and world arts and cultures. Students acquire a critical knowledge of the concepts, theories, and methods that have produced knowledge about American Indians in the traditional disciplines. Students are encouraged to develop a concentrationβor special expertiseβin these fields to accompany the major. The curriculum encompasses the cultural, historical, political, and social experiences of Native Americans in the Americas. Through courses on Native American literature, languages, theater, and contemporary societies and through more culturally specific courses on California Indians, cultures of the Pueblo southwest, and so on, the major offers an in-depth and broad knowledge on the experience of Native Americans not only in the U.S. and Canada but in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America as well. Given the increasingly multicultural society of the U.S. and the economic revitalization of many Native American communities, a knowledge of American Indian studies greatly enhances the professional and scholarly contributions attainable for those seeking postgraduate degrees in various related disciplines and fields. The American Indian Studies major is a designated capstone major. Seniors complete a research/service experience and participate in a tutorial where faculty members help them relate their course-derived academic experience to their original research/service efforts involving Native American communities. Through their capstone work, students demonstrate their skills at analyzing and synthesizing knowledge, show their capacity to work collaboratively with peers, and display their capacity to relate their academic research and discourse to Native American community needs and concerns. Students present their work at the academic year-end Research Symposium sponsored by the American Indian Studies Interdepartmental Program.
Preparation for the Major
Complete one required course and two elective courses.
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AM IND M10 | Introduction to American Indian Studies | 5 |
Preparation for the Major: Electives
Select two courses from:
The Major
Requirements are distributed according to certain categories to create a breadth of knowledge. Students are required to take a research methods course to become familiar with scholarly techniques of knowledge production and to critically regard academic research, as well as a course in either ethnic/race/gender relations or comparative indigenous studies. Additional courses are selected in the social sciences and humanities according to a distributional formula that encourages further specialization within either of these two broad areas while simultaneously adding additional breadth. Finally, American Indian Studies C122XP prioritizes the experiential dimension of involvement in Native American communities (either urban, reservation, or rancheria) through work that supplies service experience and/or supervised internship opportunities. The 13 courses must fit one of the following regional emphasis patterns: (1) Native North Americaβeight courses, including those mentioned below and additional electives on Native North American topics or (2) indigenous peoples of the Americasβeight courses, including at least four dealing with indigenous people in Central America and/or South America. Students must complete 13 upper-division courses (52 units) as follows, with no more than 32 units from American Indian studies courses:
The Major: Core Courses
Complete 10 core courses (40 units) as follows:
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AM IND M161 | Comparative American Indian Societies | 4 |
The Major: Core Courses: Language
Select two courses from:
The Major: Core Courses: History or Law
Select two courses from:
The Major: Core Courses: Social Sciences
Select one course from:
The Major: Core Courses: Expressive Culture
Select two courses from:
The Major: Core Courses: Methodology
Select one course from:
The Major: Core Courses: Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations or Comparative Indigenous Studies
Select one course from either of the following groups:
The Major: Core Courses: Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations or Comparative Indigenous Studies: Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations
The Major: Core Courses: Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations or Comparative Indigenous Studies: Comparative Indigenous Studies
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANTHRO 143 | Economic Anthropology | 4 |
| GEOG M126 | Environmental Change | 4 |
| HIST 135A | Europe and World: Exploration and Conquest, 1400 to 1700 | 4 |
| SOCIOL 157 | Social Stratification | 4 |
The Major: Experiential Service Learning or Supervised Internship
Complete the following two courses:
The Major: Capstone
Complete the following course:
| Code | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AM IND 187 | Special Topics in American Indian Studies | 4 |
Honors Program
Complete the following courses, with a professor who agrees to mentor and guide them through the stages of senior essay design and development during their senior year. Completion of a senior thesis is required.
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