Graduate Courses and Descriptions
NAS 200 - Basic Concepts in Native American Studies (4)
Seminar—3 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing and consent of instructor. Analysis of the characteristics of the discipline of Native American Studies. Concentration is on both traditional and contemporary native scholarship and thought as well as the theoretical and methodological consequences derived from application of these ideas. May be Repeated 3 times for Credit with a different instructor. Effective Winter 2019.
NAS 202 - Advanced Topics in Native American Studies (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Advanced study of selected topics or themes relevant to the field of Native American studies. Topics will be announced at the time of offering. May be Repeated for Credit when topic differs.
NAS 207 - Leadership Skills and Strategies in California Language Documentation and Revitalization (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Introduction to the indigenous languages of the Americas, with a focus on California; an examination of how contemporary Native communities document and revitalize their heritage languages. Learn to assist and administer language programs. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 208 - Advanced Study of Native American Languages (4)
Seminar—3 hours; practice; term paper. Prerequisite(s): NAS 107 or equivalent background with a Native American language. Advanced study of Native American languages. Development of proficiency in a particular language in order to incorporate language into Native American Studies research and argumentation. Engagement with theoretical perspectives on social, cultural, and structural dimensions of language to guide language study. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 212 - Community Development for Sovereignty and Autonomy (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing and consent of instructor. Examines a sample of contemporary indigenous communities from south, central and north America with the goal of understanding and evaluating the strategies adopted by Native American communities to develop and implement forms of sovereignty or autonomous self-management. Cannot be Repeated for Credit. Offered in alternate years. - Grandia.
NAS 213 - Native Criminality and Deviance (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Examination of "deviance" in Native communities with focus on Native criminality in North America. Analysis of the concept of deviance from several different world views. Readings from a range of theories to incorporate varying theoretical perspective on criminality and deviance. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 217 - Public Law 83-280: Colonial Termination (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing, including school of law students. Examination of the signature law of the Termination Era, Public Law 83-280. Discussions to include termination, societal conformity, political consent, jurisdiction, self-determination & decolonization, and colonial relationship between Native Peoples and the United States. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 220 - Colonialism, Neoliberalism, and Indigenous Self-Determination (4)
Seminar—3 hours; Term Paper. Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing. History, political economy and legacies of imperial/colonial systems. Continuities and discontinuities with corporate globalization and neoliberalism. Focus on resistance and self-determination of indigenous peoples, but with comparison to other groups. Cannot be Repeated for Credit. Offered in alternate years. - Grandia.
NAS 224 - Performance in the Americas (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Ethnomusicological and anthropological approaches to study of public performance in the Americas. New ways of looking at music, dance, rituals and other forms of public expressive forms normally called “folklore” or “popular culture.” Offered in alternate years. Not open for credit to students who have completed Music 224. (Former course Music 224.)— Cannot be Repeated for Credit. - Mendoza
NAS 233 - Visual Sovereignty (4)
Seminar—3 hours; film viewing—2 hours; term paper. Extensively examine the field of contemporary Native American and Indigenous photography, film and performance through research of artworks, writings by artists, theorists, and material in museum collections. May be repeated two times for credit when topic differs. May be Repeated two times for Credit when topic differs. Offered in alternate years.—Tsinhnahjinnie
NAS 237 - Native American Art Collections and Museums (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Research and examination of regional Native American art held in museums and other public institutions, as well as privately-held collections. Includes onsite viewing and research of museum collections and archives. Cannot be Repeated for Credit. Offered in alternate years.—Tsinhnahjinnie
NAS 240 - Native American Public Health: Topics and Issues (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Introduction to Native American public health issues and contributing causal factors (including environmental justice and historical trauma); the dimensions of cultural competency in diagnosis and service provision; the structure of Native health care institutions; and debates in Native treatment modalities. Cannot be Repeated for Credit. — Middleton
NAS 246 - Native American/Indigenous Research Methodologies (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Introduction to advanced methodologies currently influencing research in Native American Studies and amongst Indigenous communities. Students will develop an original project and course assignments will guide them through the process of research design and implementation. Offered in alternate years. — Perea.
NAS 250 - Indigenous Critique of Classic Maya Ethnographies (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Construction of the Maya world through ethnographic writing during the present century. Deconstruction of ethnographies about the Mayans considering the modern theories and social/anthropological critiques of modern ethnographies. Offered in alternate years. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 254 - Native American Literature (4)
Seminar—3 hours; Extensive Writing. Open to graduate students only. Introduction to the field of Native American Literature, creative works (fiction, poetry, memoir, personal essay), literary studies. May be Repeated for Credit up to 1 time(s) when the course content (in terms of readings) is completely distinct from the course previously taken. Effective Fall 2018. - Hernandez-Avila.
NAS 257 - Indigenous Religious Traditions in the Americas (4)
Seminar—3 hours; Extensive Writing. Graduate student enrollment only. Religious/spiritual traditions, belief systems, and world-views of Native American/indigenous peoples in the Americas. Land, ecological knowledge, sacred sites, the role of tricksters, language (revitalization), gender, ethics of representation, cultural revitalization, renewed ancient knowledge and practices, ceremonial (and daily) performance of the sacred, music, the arts, the worlds of the sacred, the rules of the sacred, freedom of religion. May be Repeated for Credit up to 1 time(s) if the course syllabus is completely distinct (in terms of required readings) from the course previously taken. Effective Fall 2018. - Hernandez-Avila.
NAS 280 - Ethnohistorical Theory and Method (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Discussion of the ethnohistorical method; the utilization of diverse types of data, especially documentary sources, to reconstruct socio-cultural history. Particular attention to the applied area of ethnohistory in the solution of contemporary social problems. Offered in alternate years. Cannot be Repeated for Credit.
NAS 298 - Group Study for Graduate Students (1-5)
Prerequisite: graduate standing, consent of instructor. Group study for graduate students. May be Repeated for Credit. (S/U grading only.)
NAS 299 - Special Study for Graduate Students (1-12)
Prerequisite: graduate standing, consent of instructor. Special study for graduate students. May be Repeated for Credit. (S/U grading only.)
Professional Course
NAS 396 - Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. Teaching assistant training. May be Repeated for Credit. (S/U grading only).
2023-24 Academic Year
- Fall 2023
- NAS 200 - Basic Concepts in Native American Studies
Wednesday, 10:00am-12:50pm
Instructor of Record: Beth Rose Middleton
CRN: 52165
NAS 233 - Visual Sovereignty
Monday, 2:10pm-5:00pm
Instructor of Record: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
CRN: 52166 - Winter 2024
- NAS 202 - Indigenous Creative Expression and Performance
Monday and Wednesday, 12:10pm-2:00pm
Instructor of Record: Ines Hernandez Avila
CRN: 45055 - Spring 2024
- NAS 208 - Advanced Study of Native American Languages
Monday, 10:00am-12:50pm
Instructor of Record: James Sarmento
CRN: 57201
NAS 237 - Native American Art Collections and Museums
Friday, 1:10pm-4:00pm
Instructor of Record: Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie
CRN: 57462
NAS 280 - Ethnohistorical Theory and Method
Wednesday, 9:00am-11:50am
Instructor of Record: Kathleen Whiteley
CRN: 57202
This list is subject to change at any time without notice. For questions, contact
- Victoria Torres, Graduate Program Coordinator, vgtorres@ucdavis.edu, 530-752-3237.