HUM 292 : Native American Art and Activism
This course will provide an introduction to contemporary Native North American art, literature, television, and film, highlighting the ways in which Native peoples are telling their own stories and speaking out against persistent stereotypes—such as the “vanishing” Indian of American westerns. Students will examine Native-led media (newspapers, journals, podcasts) and movements (language reclamation, land acknowledgements, mascots) burgeoning across the United States and Canada. Though we will examine the harsh and lingering effects of Settler-Colonialism, this course will highlight the modern, creative expressions of Indigenous North American peoples. Three lecture hours per week. Prerequisites: A passing score on the college's reading and writing placement tests or, a C or better or concurrent enrollment in ENG 091 or ENG 092. Gen. Ed. Competencies: Ethical Dimensions and Human Expression.
Course Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
1. Analyze American Indian communities and cultures using various expressive mediums.
2. Identify prejudice and bias in stereotypical images of Indigenous people across mediums.
3. Articulate the harm caused by cultural appropriation.
4. Compare American Indian self-representation with non-Native representation across a variety of art forms.
5. Examine decolonizing movements in Native-created art and activism.
6. Examine Indigenous Ways of Knowing, including the concepts of Reciprocity and Stewardship.