AMST 279
From Cahokia to Casinos: Histories of Native North America from Precontact to the Present Fall 2014
Division II
Cross-listed HIST 279
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course will introduce students to the Native histories of North America, from theories about the arrival of the “first Americans” to this continent, through the possibilities of early encounters and the challenges of different colonial systems, to the creation of the United States and subsequent policies of forced removal, allotment, assimilation, and education. We will also focus on Native responses to such policies, including the Red Power movement and other efforts aimed at gaining the right to be both Native and American. Finally, we will examine the issues facing Indian Country today (such as environmental worries, health concerns, and gaming and land rights) as Native peoples continue to fight to maintain their political, cultural, and territorial sovereignty in the face of what many see as an ongoing process of imperialism. Throughout, we will assume that Native Americans were and are active producers of their own histories; by seeing Native agency, adaptability, and tenacity, we can undermine the persistent “myth of the vanishing Indian”. By the end of the course, students will be able to reevaluate their understanding of North American history in general and to answer the question of why Native American histories matter to all of us.
The Class: Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: 40
Expected: 20
Class#: 1178
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: students will be evaluated based on their participation in class discussion and completion of the required assignments, including a writing assignment and midterm and final exams
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the Gaudino option
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: History majors
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
AMST 279 Division II HIST 279 Division II
Attributes: HIST Group F Electives - U.S. + Canada
HIST Group G Electives - Global History

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