Native American Studies

Course Level: College Preparatory

Credits: 2.5

Suggested Grade Level: 9 – 12

Prerequisite: None

NJ Course Code:

This course approaches Native American experience from a sympathetic yet unromantic cultural perspective. We begin with the premise that Native Americans were active agents in producing their history both before and after the European invasion of North America--not just victims of white oppression and/or abstract social forces. Topics include cultural diversity in North America on the eve of European colonization; the dynamics of early Indian-European encounters in different regions of North America; the role of slavery in Native American societies and in Indian-European relations; the political and spiritual dimensions of accommodation and resistance to Euro-American expansion in the eighteenth century; the construction and reconstruction of Indian identities in the era of the American Revolution; forced Indian Removal; and the nineteenth-century struggles for the Great Plains and the Great Basin. Emphasis will be placed on current scholarly debates and varieties of historical analysis. Students are encouraged to think independently, and student participation in class discussions (both online and face-to-face) is essential to the success of the course. Written work, like class discussions, will focus on the wide-ranging and intellectually challenging assigned readings.