NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM

Since 1976, courses on the North American Indian have attracted students to consider more closely the first occupants of the Western Hemisphere. As a result of a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1981-1983), two interdisciplinary courses were developed—ANT/HIS 254: The North American Indian and ANT/HIS 255: Interactions with Indiansin North America—which are taught by two-instructor teams and guest lecturers from a staff made up of two anthropologists, a biologist, and a historian. Students may elect to earn anthropology or history credits in either course.

The general intent of the Native American Studies program is to enlarge the scope of humanistic studies by focusing on a non-Western culture which has been an integral part of American History for at least 30,000 years. The study of Native American cultures allows students to increase their comprehension of human experience and values, and in the process, to examine their own values more critically. In addition, the Indian courses offer students an opportunity to develop the habit of interdisciplinary scholarship, since no single discipline provides the full knowledge of a culture or of a civilization. Students are encouraged to share their own knowledge in regular panel discussions and to appreciate how different disciplines contribute toward their understanding of the American Indian. For more information, contact Dr. Amy Gazin- Schwartz, coordinator (agazin@assumption.edu).

Did you Know?

20% of Assumption undergraduate students are first-generation college students.