American Indian Studies BA

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 concentration—or special expertise—in 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. 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.

College:
College of Letters and Science

Department:
American Indian Studies

Degree Level:
Undergraduate

Degree:
Bachelor of Arts

Preparation for the Major

Complete one required course and two elective courses.

0/3

Electives

Select two courses from:

Select 2 from 4 options:

0/2

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. 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 12 courses must fit one of the following regional emphasis patterns: (1) Native North America—eight courses, including those mentioned below and additional electives on Native North American topics or (2) indigenous peoples of the Americas—eight courses, including at least four dealing with indigenous people in Central America and/or South America. Students must complete 12 upper-division courses (48 units) as follows, with no more than 32 units from American Indian studies courses:

0/12

Language

Select two courses from:

Select 2 from 3 options:

0/2

History or Law

Select two courses from:

Select 2 from 6 options:

0/2

Social Sciences

Select one course from:

Select 1 from 7 options:

0/1

Expressive Culture

Select two courses from:

Select 2 from 9 options:

0/2

Methodology

Select one course from:

Select 1 from 8 options:

0/1

Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations or Comparative Indigenous Studies

Select one course from either of the following groups:

Select 1 from 2 options:

0/1

Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations

0/1

Take one course from the following:

Select 1 from 16 options

Comparative Indigenous Studies

0/1

Take one course from the following:

Select 1 from 4 options

Honors Program

The honors program is designed for American Indian Studies majors who are interested in carrying out an independent research project that culminates in an interdepartmental honors thesis of approximately 30 pages. The program gives qualified students the opportunity to work closely with individual professors on an in-depth supervised research and writing project. All junior and senior American Indian Studies majors who have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better and at least a cumulative GPA of 3.5 in coursework in the major are eligible to apply.

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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.

0/1

Honors Thesis Courses

0/3

Complete all three courses for the honors thesis.

American Indian Studies BA

Preparation for the Major

Electives

The Major

Language

History or Law

Social Sciences

Expressive Culture

Methodology

Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations or Comparative Indigenous Studies

Ethnic/Race/Gender Relations

Comparative Indigenous Studies

Honors Program

Honors Program

Honors Thesis Courses

Quarter Planning

Fall 2025

Winter 2026

Spring 2026