See Course Description Symbols and Terms for an explanation of course description terminology and symbols, the course numbering system, and course credit units.

AIST 170  Introduction to American Indian/US Native American Studies  3 Units  GE  

Typically Offered: Fall and spring  

Introduction to the field of American Indian/U.S. Native American Studies. Primarily analyzes contemporary issues and initiatives, providing some background for present-day conditions. Focused study on American Indian sovereignty, debates on racial/ethnic designations, indigeneity, and the complexities of California tribal systems. 3 hours lecture.  (000375)  

General Education: Ethnic Studies (F)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Lower Division  

AIST 203  Visual Sovereignty: American Indian Film  3 Units  

Typically Offered: Spring only  

This is an introduction course to American Indian and Indigenous film. We will center visual sovereignty and fourth world cinema by highlighting American Indian and Indigenous autonomy over representation. This course examines a range of cinematic genres such as documentaries, features, shorts, television, and independent films. Going beyond boundaries, this course looks at a global sampling of Indigenous films and genres. Through deep analysis of these genres, we investigate meaningful histories, contemporary responses to issues, debunking stereotypes, and moving toward finding the power within representing oneself and their community. This course critically examines how American Indian and Indigenous peoples use films as furthering projects of decolonization and where students can become informed about the articulations of aesthetic activism and accurate portrayals of lived realities. 3 hours lecture.  (022187)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Lower Division  

AIST 230  American Indian Histories Past and Present  3 Units  GE, USD  

Typically Offered: Fall only  

Histories of Native peoples residing in the present-day United States. The diversity of traditional cultures, disruption in the wake of encounters with European settler-colonists, and ongoing resistance and adaptation of Native communities. This course draws from historic and Native sources. 3 hours lecture.  (000382)  

General Education: Humanities (C2)  

Cross listing(s): HIST 230  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Lower Division; Sustainable Course; US Diversity  

AIST 252  American Indian Literature  3 Units  GE, USD  

Typically Offered: Fall and spring  

Study of the oral and written literature of the American Indian and of related historical and critical materials. 3 hours lecture.  (000377)  

General Education: Humanities (C2)  

Cross listing(s): ENGL 252  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Lower Division; Sustainable Course; US Diversity  

AIST 261  Peoples and Cultures of Native North America  3 Units  GE, USD  

Typically Offered: Fall only  

Survey of Native North America with an emphasis on U.S. indigenous peoples. Diverse traditional cultures, rituals, languages, interrelationships, and economic and social institutions are examined as informed by archaeological and ethnographic data, in addition to native perspectives. Culture continuity, adaptation, and change in a post-contact period are featured. 3 hours lecture.  (000383)  

General Education: Social Sciences (D)  

Cross listing(s): ANTH 261  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Lower Division; US Diversity  

AIST 362W  California Indians (W)  3 Units  GE, USD, W  

Prerequisite: GE Oral Communication (A1); GE Written Communication (A2); GE Critical Thinking (A3); GE Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning (B4) requirements, or consent of the instructor.  

Typically Offered: Fall and spring  

Native peoples of California: their origin, prehistory, languages, and pre-contact cultural practices, such as subsistence, settlement, socio-political organization, and ceremony, with the local area highlighted. Interactions with Europeans are also discussed. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological and ethnographic records. 3 hours lecture.  (000519)  

General Education: Upper-Division Social Sciences (UDD); California Studies Pathway  

Cross listing(s): ANTH 362W  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Upper Division; US Diversity; Writing Course  

AIST 365  American Indian Storytelling/Oral Narrative  3 Units  GE  

Prerequisite: Recommended: Junior/Senior standing or faculty permission.   

Typically Offered: Fall and spring  

This course critically examines American Indian/Native American/Alaska Native/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples storytelling through an Indigenous theoretical lens. The course intentionally situates studies that place Native people in present tense while honoring our ancestors that walked before us and preparing for future generations. The course builds on oral traditions in storytelling and requires students to reflect on their own relationship with stories to understand and analyze major issues in diverse communities. Native issues regarding survivance, women, gender, and sexuality are woven into the fiber of the course content. This course requires students to participate in oral and written storytelling that honors ancestors and demonstrates scholarly work through a public storytelling presentation. 3 hours lecture.  (022181)  

General Education: Ethnic Studies (F)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Upper Division  

AIST 398  Special Topics  1-3 Units  

Prerequisite: Department permission.  

Typically Offered: Inquire at department  

This course is for special topics offered for 1.0-3.0 units. Typically the topic is offered on a one-time-only basis and may vary from term to term and be different for different sections. See the Class Schedule for the specific topic being offered. 0 hours supervision.  (021762)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course more than once  

Course Attributes: Upper Division  

AIST 410  Contemporary North American Indian Issues and Identities  3 Units  

Prerequisite: AIST 170.  

Typically Offered: Fall only  

This course provides an in-depth exploration of current issues in contemporary American Indian communities, and focuses on relevance to local and regional tribes in Northern California. Topics might include ecology; traditional culture and linguistic revitalization; gender and sexuality; social and cultural movements; health and wellness; and education. 3 hours lecture.  (021915)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Upper Division  

AIST 425  American Indian Sovereignty and U.S. Federal Law  3 Units  

Prerequisite: AIST 170 or faculty permission.  

Typically Offered: Spring only  

This course explores the concept of inherent sovereignty, traces the development of U.S. Federal Indian Law through landmark cases, and analyze the Federal-Tribal relationship today - especially within the state of California. Topics may include settler colonialism, Citizenship/(Dis)Enrollment and Recognition; Land-Allotment, Reorganization, Tribal Property, Land Management, Land Use Rights and SEQA; Gaming; Cultural Sovereignty; and Gender and Sexuality. This course is a combination of lecture, film screenings, discussion, research, writing, and engagement with the community. Students are expected to attend and participate actively in class. 3 hours lecture.  (021994)  

Grade Basis: Graded  

Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  

Course Attributes: Upper Division