American Indian Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the histories, experiences, languages, arts, and cultures of peoples indigenous to the lands that now comprise the United States of America. It seeks to broaden students' understandings of the diversity and complexity of American Indian identities, communities, and nations; to make connections between Native peoples and cultures in the U.S. and Indigenous peoples and cultures across the Americas and around the globe; to provide comparative and intersectional approaches to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and citizenship; and to encourage linking educational and research initiatives to community and political concerns.
Program requirements for the American Indian Studies minor are fully detailed in the College of Arts and Science's official AIS Minor Description sheet [pdf]. The program requires 12 credit hours of coursework. Students must choose a minimum of four courses, from at least two different academic units. Three courses (9 credit hours) must be taken in American Indian Studies. The remaining elective course (3 credit hours) should be taken in either global Indigenous studies or comparative U.S. race/ethnicity studies. The elective course in global Indigenous or comparative U.S. race/ethnicity studies will be approved by the coordinating adviser in consultation with the student on a case-by-case basis.
Students may include up to three credit hours of variable credit courses in independent research/fieldwork or internship experience in either AIS or global Indigenous or comparative US race/ethnicity with the approval of the AIS coordinating adviser.
American Indian Studies courses
Anthropology
- 2202, An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- 3350, Prehistoric Indians of the Ohio Valley
- 3420, Indians of North America
- 3554, Archaeology of North America
Art Education
- 2367.01(H), Visual Culture: Investigating Diversity and Social Justice
- 5367, Reel Injuns: Identity and Representation
Comparative Studies
- 2323, Introduction to American Indian Studies
- 4822, Native American Identity
English
- *2367.01 (E, H), Language, Identity and Culture in the U.S. Experience
- 4586, Studies in American Indian Literature and Culture
History
- 2070, Introduction to Native American History
- 2071, American Indian History of the U.S. Midwest
- 2110, Introduction to Native American Peoples from Mesoamerica
- 2111, Introduction to Native American People of the Andes
- 2750 (E, H), Natives and Newcomers: Immigration and Migration in U.S. History
- 3070, Native American History from European Contact to Removal, 1560-1820
- 3071, Native American History from Removal to the Present
Linguistics
- 3501, Introduction to American Indigenous Languages
Religious Studies
- 3672, Native American Religions
Special topics courses, when the content is appropriate, may be counted toward the minor with the approval of the coordinating adviser. Independent Research/Fieldwork or Internship (3 credits maximum): students can develop an independent project in consultation with an adviser.
*Appropriateness of course content for inclusion in the minor program should be first confirmed by the AIS director.
[pdf] - Some links on this page are to .pdf files. If you need these files in a more accessible format, please contact ais@osu.edu PDF files require the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open them. If you do not have Reader, you may use the following link to Adobe to download it for free at: Adobe Acrobat Reader.