Critical Social Inquiry 0260 - Indigenous Peoples and Places of North America: Native Geography, Settler Cartography

What is indigenous space? What is a traditional cultural place? What constitutes "Indian Country" today? What is the relationship between land base and sovereignty? How have Natives and settler-colonists conceived and contested land and territory over time? This this upper-division course welcomes students from all concentrations but is best suited for students with some prior coursework in history, anthropology, geography, social theory or indigenous studies. It is designed to explore geographies of Native America with a special focus on Dawnland/ "New England." The class considers homelands, culture areas, the mapping of languages and polities. It encourages students to think critically about colonization/ decolonization. The course is reading and writing intensive, with weekly response papers and engaged classroom discussion expected. Students will complete and present a final project or research paper. Keywords: contested space, indigenous, sovereignty, settler colonialism, decolonization

In/Justice This course deals with issues of Race and Power. Students should generally expect to spend 8 hours a week on work outside of class time.