ARTS 247 Traditional Art of the Americas
C. A. Lorenz
This course studies principal art styles of the indigenous peoples of North, Central and South America from the Pre-Columbian era to today. Architecture, sculpture and two-dimensional works are considered in the contexts of the cultures that produced them. Although this course aims to isolate the styles of each culture area, it also considers the historical and artistic relationships between cultures which are today widely separated in time and space.

ARTS 347 Iroquois Art
C. Lorenz
This course examines the art of the Iroquois people from its origins among the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands cultures to contemporary art by members of the six Iroquois nations. We shall approach this study through readings and discussion; visits to museum collections and Iroquois communities; and conversations with living artists. We shall address art historical topics as well as the cultural themes and contemporary issues expressed in Iroquois art. Linked to CORE 188 as part of the On-Campus Study Group.

ARTS 484 Contemporary Issues in Native American Art (Seminar in Non-Western Art)
C. A. Lorenz
This course explores current issues concerning traditional Native American art - such as the politics of museum display and repatriation of ceremonial objects - as well as issues surrounding contemporary art. These include ways in which Native Americans use art to speak to their communities and to a wider public about diverse topics: how Indian identity is defined; the importance of heritage; racism and stereotypes; sovereignty of Indian nations; the pros and cons of gambling on reservations; the exploitation of Indian homelands through mining, pollution, nuclear testing and waste disposal; the pros and cons of tourism. Course readings emphasize Native American voices. Other resources include Native American films, actual art objects, and images of art works, visits with artists, and the opportunity to participate in developing an art exhibition. Students are evaluated on the quality of their participation in class discussions and a research paper. Prerequisite: appropriate 200- or 300-level non-Western course.

CORE 162 Colombia
A. Barrera, L. Rojas
This course explores Colombia through the study of history and literature as a dialogue between two disciplines that approach reality with different methods and assumptions.  The study of Colombia is a particularly interesting one considering the country's history and its relationship to the USA.  Colombia is a country with strong regional differences.  It is not a union, but it is in the process of becoming one.  The process is proving very violent, yet full of creativity.  The issues explored in this course are related to the creation of the national state; art; gender, ethnic and class relationships; violence; markets; international relations, and regional identities.

CORE 164 Ecuador
C. Townsend
This course will introduce students to a part of the Americas little know to most people in the United States.  The course approaches "Ecuador" not merely as a set of geographic boundaries, but as a shifting set of people, of interacting agents - Native American, Hispanic, African, and more recently, Anglo.  Using works by anthropologists and historians, artists and writers, the course questions the terms "western" and "non-western"  and asks what it means to approach the modern world from a position of more or less power, and how shifting our own location on those axes would change our personal perspective.  The first part of this course explores explanations of Ecuador's history of repeated conquest and loss, while the second part asks students to become acquainted with a people who remain unconquered in many ways despite their history and, indeed, refuse to be victimized.

CORE 171 Mexico
L. Klugherz
This course is a general introduction to the history, people and cultures of Mexico. The objectives of CORE Mexico are to examine Mexico’s complex history and social fabric, to take a look at Mexicans and their cultural expression with relation to this history, and to gain a general understanding of who contemporary Mexicans are in the context of current events and politics and their relationship to the United States. Among the subjects to be discussed are: the prehistory of Mexico from the Olmecs to the Aztecs; the conquest of establishment of a colonial society; the political and social upheavals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; the art, music, and literature of Mexico as integral statements of a culture in development; Contemporary Mexico - indigenismo and mestizaje, social classes; and Mexico and the US – the border and Nafta. The course includes lectures, slides, films, student presentations and some discussion.

CORE 176 North American Indians
J. Kerber, C. Vecsey, A. Schutt
This multidisciplinary course provides an overview of North American Indians and their cultures by drawing on selected case studies from four cultural groupings:  New England tribes, the Iroquois, the Cheyenne, and the Pueblos.  These cultures will not be studied in isolation but in terms of their historical and political relationship to Anglo-American society and institutions.  Thus, in each case we will look at the attempted conquest of these cultures by European or American powers, the creation of reservation systems, and the use of institutions (e.g., the BIA, schools, missions) to change Native American cultures. We will also examine the response of Native Americans to outside pressures.  In addition, the course will examine other issues, such as sovereignty, gambling, repatriation, land claims, and education, and their impact on North American Indians.  Videotapes and slides will be shown throughout the semester. (Kerber)

CORE 177 Peru
M. Hays-Mitchell, G. Urton
This course is designed to introduce the beliefs, values, institutions, practices and environment of the diverse peoples who constitute present-day Peru.  We will first explore the distinct geography and ecology of Peru and the ways in which these features have shaped the societies that inhabit this land.  Next, we will examine the evolution and organization of the Pre-Columbian societies, paying special attention to the Incas.  We will also examine the processes, ideologies and institutions associated with the era of Spanish colonialism and their relevance to the state of underdevelopment that characterizes contemporary Peru.  Our study of present-day Peru will juxtapose rural and urban life as we examine the crisis conditions enveloping both ways of life.  Throughout discussion, we will note the many paradoxes of this intriguing land - not least of which is the seeming triumph of the Peruvian spirit in the face of despair. (Hays-Mitchell)

CORE 188 The Iroquois
C. Vecsey
This course examines the culture, history, economics, religion, literature, arts, politics and the individual lives of the Iroquois Indians from the period before European contact to the present day. The Iroquois will be studied in the context of North American ethnohistory, particularly within the United States. The course will include guest lectures by other Colgate University faculty who have expertise regarding the Iroquois. In addition, since Colgate University exists in the traditional homeland of the Iroquois and thousands of Iroquois are our neighbors in New York State and its environs, this course will include the testimonies of several Iroquois guest speakers during the term.

EDUC 311 History of Native American Education
A. Schutt
This course considers the history of North American Indian education from a variety of perspectives. Central to discussions is an analysis of the ways in which Native American societies in different times and places viewed children and their upbringing. The course considers education as a process of transmitting culture within Native American societies and between Europeans and Indians. Readings include autobiographical and biographical materials about teachers and students as well as secondary studies of missionary activities, boarding and day schools, and changing government policies affecting Indian education. One aspect of the course encourages students to reflect on multicultural curricula and cultural diversity in learning styles. An important component of the course is a research paper on a topic related to the theme of the course.

ENGL 204 American Literatures: Native American Writers
S. Wider
An introduction to literary study focusing on the question of what it means to identify a national tradition of literature. This course examines Native American authors of the late twentieth century in relation to the works of some of their contemporaries, including works by Linda Hogan, Louise Erdrich, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Simon Ortiz.

ENGL 336 Native American Literature
S. Wider
This course is a study of literature by First Nations peoples. Works of fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry are studied with emphasis on the combination of and oftentimes conflict between different expressive traditions. Can an oral tradition become part of a written literature? What is the function of "story" within different cultural traditions? Writers include N.Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Simon Ortiz, Louise Erdrich, Linda Hogan, Luci Tapahonso, Irvin Morris, Esther Belin, and Craig Womack.

ENGL 418 Contemporary Native American Writers Seminar
S. Wider
Commenting on a story told by his father, N. Scott Momaday remarks: "One does not come to and end of such a story. I have lived with the story of the arrowmaker for many years, and I am sure that I do not yet understand it in all of its consequent meanings." This course examines the "consequent meanings" of traditional stories. Studying the works of contemporary Native American writers, we will look at the way traditional stories are rewoven into contemporary "mainstream" forms (poems, novels, short stories, theater pieces). We will read works by Momaday, Esther Belin, Luci Tapahonso, Leslie Marmon Silko, Simon Ortiz, Louise Erdrich, Linda Hogan, Maurice Kenny and Joe Bruchac. As part of the inaugural Native American Writers reading series, four of these writers will join us for class during the semester.

HIST 107 Colonial Latin America
C. Townsend
This course covers the formative stages of Latin-American history from the pre-Colombian era through the wars of independence in the early nineteenth century. The course opens with a study of Native American cultures, then considers the kinds of fusion and conflict that occurred in the wake of the arrival of Europeans and Africans. It ends with the challenges to and collapse of the colonial system.

HIST 109 The Atlantic World, 1400-1800
A. Barrera
This course examines the encounter between Europeans, Africans, and Indians during the first period of the Atlantic World, 1400s to 1800s. The course explores the formation and consolidation of the Atlantic World as a network of regions where a fundamental exchange of peoples, ideas, crops, technology, diseases, institutions, and cultural practices began to occur in the mid-fifteenth century. The course explores such themes and issues as European, African, and Amerindian empires and cultures, imperial expansion, colonization, navigation, technology, European-Indian-African relations, the transatlantic slave trade, the Atlantic economy, Euro-American colonial societies - in sum, the fomation of American identities, practices, and struggles.

HIST 310 American Indian Ethnohistory
W. Wall
Selected topics in American Indian ethnohistory and the history of white-Indian relations from colonial to recent times, emphasizing the Northeast and the American West in contact and post-contact periods. The course focuses on Indian perspectives, government policies, white attitudes, and Native American resistance.

HIST 323 History of the Andes
C. Townsend
This course presents a long sweep of a culturally rich region's history. It opens with the pre-historic, pre-Incaic civilizations, and then covers their conquest, first by the Incan Empire and then by the Spanish conquistadors. It treats the region's struggles under colonialism, the varying reactions to independence and the modern world, the dynamic rivalry between the highlands and the coast, and the modern political and economic tensions endemic in the area.

HIST 324 History of Mexico
C. Townsend
This course examines the dramatic history of a developing nation. The course begins with the history of the Aztecs, then covers the arrival of Hernando Cortes and the process of the conquest. After the war of independence, the tensions of the nineteenth century led to the Mexican Revolution, creating a modern nation whose vision of itself is still unresolved. The course gives special attention to modern Mexico's relationship with the United States.

HIST 358 Conquest and Colony: Cultural Encounters in the New World
C. Townsend
This course explores contrasting patterns of colonization in the "New World," as this hemisphere was once termed by Europeans.  Traditionally, such comparative studies have focused on the cultural differences among the European colonizers, but this course focuses equally on the cultural differences among the indigenous peoples of the Americas.  As these divergent groups confronted and dealt with each other in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they established widely varying patterns of living that would affect the histories of their descendants for generations to come.  Many different European nations attempted to colonize the Americas, and an even greater number of Native American peoples already lived there.  This course will focus on the Mexica, the Incas, the Algonkians, the Spanish and the English.  The course will draw comparisons with other groups in class, and students are free to pursue independent research projects that focus on other groups.

RELG 318 American Indian Religions
C. Vecsey
This course introduces students to the variety of American Indian traditional religions and historical religious movements. After an evaluation of the methods used in understanding Indian religions and a survey of culture areas, students look at American Indian concepts of the supernatural, mythology, ceremonialism, dreams and visions, medicine, witchcraft, shamanism, nature-relations, and conceptions of the soul. Navajo, Lakota, Skagit, Inuit, Hopi, and Ojibwa religions are described in some detail, in order to show how the individual characteristics are integrated; then the class examines the effects of Christian missions and the most important religious movements among American Indians since white contact: Handsome Lake’s Religion, Ghost Dance, Peyote Religion, and others. First-year students are admitted by permission of instructor.

RELG 409 Navajo Creation Narratives (Sacred Texts)
C. Vecsey
Following an introduction to aspects of Navajo culture, history, geography and identity, this course examines Navajo creation narratives as sacred texts.  Through these narratives, the course explores Navajo cosmology, theology, philosophy, ideology, ethics and values.

SOAN 203 Hunters and Gatherers
J. Kerber
This course provides students with a cross-cultural perspective on historic and contemporary hunter and gatherer societies from across the world. The course compares and contrasts specific groups to illuminate key variables in their technological, subsistence and political systems. The pressures and responses of hunters and gatherers today to adapt to a constantly changing natural and social environment are discussed. First-year students and sophomores have priority.

SOAN 213 The Anthropology of Art
G. Urton
A review of the anthropological approach to art with emphasis on structural analysis and the relationship of the artist to his or her culture. Concentration is on the major art styles outside the Western tradition and the Orient. This course is open to sophomores and first-year students only.

SOAN 253 Archaeoastronomy
A. Aveni
This interdisciplinary course studies the development of astronomy, calendars, writing and numeration among early civilizations. Emphasis on cultures of Bronze Age Britain, North American Indians, Maya and Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, and the civilization of the Andes. The May Course Segment deals with mapping and surveying techniques that are employed during visits to the archaeological ruins of Mexico or Peru. Open to sophomores and to juniors and seniors with permission of instructor. This course is also listed as ASTR 253.

SOAN 300 Museum Studies in Native American Cultures
J. Ware
This course is an introduction to museology with a special emphasis on the interpretation and representation of Native American cultures of the Western Hemisphere, especially those cultures that are represented in the collections of the Longyear Museum of Anthropology.  Through readings, lectures, discussions, visits to regional museums, and a practicum that will include designing and mounting a small-scale exhibition, students will be introduced to the theory and practice of museology; the care, conservation, and interpretation of material culture collections, and the use of material culture in research and public education.  In recent years museums have become the focal point for an evolving dialog and debate about the representation of non-Western peoples and cultures.  Native Americans have recently and vigorously joined that debate to argue that museums have consistently misrepresented American Indian cultures and perpetuated centuries-old stereotypes that have been destructive of Native American cultural systems and values.  The course will examine the origins and evolution of this debate, the changing relationship between native people and national cultural institutions, and the future of museums on the highly contested multicultural stage of the twenty-first century.

SOAN 309 Colonialism and Development
N. Bolland
This course studies the causes and consequences of the emergence of the modern world as a social system by examining factors which relate diverse cultures and societies. It examines the forces that propelled Europe into commercial expansion and industrial capitalism and the interaction of European and other peoples in a worldwide process of development. Different theories of development are evaluated and various social aspects of development are studied, such as the relation between the process of urbanization and changes in the family, trade unions, and social inequality. Special emphasis is given to the Caribbean and Latin America, but students are encouraged to choose their own examples. Juniors and seniors only.

SOAN 330 Native Peoples and Cultures of South America
G. Urton
This course provides comparative and historical overviews of village life in several communities in South America. Special emphasis is given to peoples and cultures of the Andean highlands and the tropical forest of the Amazon River basin. Through the reading of ethnographic and historical accounts, the course examines the social, economic and political institutions, ritual practices, and artistic and mythological traditions in selected Andean and Amazonian communities from colonial times to the present. The objective of the course is to develop an understanding of the environmental and historical forces and the intellectual and cultural traditions that have given rise to contemporary communities in the Andes and Amazonia. No first-year students are admitted.

SOAN 331 South American Archaeology
G. Urton
This course introduces South American culture history from the earliest human settlement to the period of European contact, as seen in the archaeological record. Special attention is given to the relationship of tropical forest and Andean cultures, the development of agriculture, art and religion and the emergence of complex chiefdoms and states. No first-year students are admitted.

SOAN 339 Prehistoric Peoples of the Southwest
J. Ware
The American Southwest has attracted anthropologists and archaeologists for more than a century.  As an enclave of "traditional" Native American culture and a repository of well preserved archaeological remains spanning more than 10,000 years, the Southwest is one of the world's great archaeological laboratories and training grounds.  This course reviews the archaeological evidence and addresses the anthropological implications of prehistoric life in the desert Southwest.  The course will provide a comprehensive summary of the methods and theories of prehistoric archaeology for the beginning student in anthropology, with emphasis on archaeological concepts, methods and theories, research design, survey and excavation techniques, and analytical and dating methods.  Through lectures, readings, and audio-visual programs the course will provide a current synthesis of Southwestern prehistory, focusing on the history and intellectual context of contemporary research issues, including a general understanding of Southwestern culture history, spatial-temporal systems, and the evolution of problems and theories.  The course will conclude with an in-depth look at the evolving relationship between archaeology and Native American concerns and sensitivities.  

SOAN 352 North American Indian Archaeology
J. Kerber
This course traces the development of prehistoric Indian adaptations and cultures across North America. Students address topics covering a wide range of issues, such as the peopling of the New World, the human role in massive animal extinctions 10,000 years ago, the development of horticulture and settled village life, and archaeological methods of excavation and analysis. In addition specific prehistoric Indian remains from various regions of the continent are examined. The course highlights the reconstruction of diverse subsistence strategies and settlement patterns from an ecological perspective. No first-year students are admitted.

SOAN 353 Field Methods and Interpretation in Archaeology
J. Kerber
This course provides students with hands-on experience in procedures archaeologists employ in collecting, processing and reporting data. The course revolves around two basic premises: learning about archaeology includes doing archaeology; and doing archaeology involves more than just digging. Training in archaeological fieldwork and data processing is based upon an ongoing research project in the Chenango Valley of Central New York. Each student has the opportunity to participate in various aspects of this research from excavation and field recording to cataloguing and analysis. The culmination of the course is a detailed report written by all students in the class based upon their research. This report is disseminated to the New York State Archaeologist and to other professionals. Visits to museums and laboratories are integrated into the course. Class size is limited to fifteen students. Prerequisite: SOAN 103 or permission of instructor.

SOAN 354 Field Methods in Archaeoastronomy
A. Aveni
This course begins in Mexico between the fall and spring terms with guided visits to and lectures on Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology, the ruins of Teotihuacan and other sites. Students then participate with a team of archaeologists and anthropologists from other institutions in survey work at sites near the Mexican ruins. Of particular interest is determination of the placement of ancient architectural benchmarks used to lay out cities and ceremonial centers. Returning to campus, students work with data collected in the field and present an oral as well as a written paper on a specialized research subject relating to the field experience. Additional cost to students is approximately $1,500 (financial aid is available). Prerequisites: ASTR 253 or SOAN 253, and permission of instructor. This course is also listed as ASTR 354 and is offered each spring.

SOAN 356 Chiefdoms, Kingdoms and States
G. Urton
This course takes a comparative approach to the study of chiefdoms and states in both the Old and the New World. The course begins with a study of theories of political organization in complex societies and of the origins of the state. This is followed by a comparative study of the organization of chiefdoms and early states in such diverse settings as Mesopotamia, China, Oceania, Amazonia and the Andes. The course is designed to investigate the nature of pre-capitalist political, economic, social and religious institutions in a variety of chiefdoms and early non-Western states. No first-year students are admitted.

SOAN 358 Native American Cultures
G. Urton
The comparative and historical study of Native American cultures and societies in North, Central and South America. Through the reading of several ethnographies, the class compares and contrasts Native American social, religious, political and economic institutions and practices from the time of European contact to the present day. No first-year students are admitted.

SOAN 360 Comparative Cosmologies
A. Aveni
This course concentrates on the description and analysis of cosmological models and world views, primarily as revealed through myth, developed by a variety of ancient and contemporary societies. One goal in formulating a contrast between Western and non-Western aspects of world view is determining which concepts and ideas might emerge as common to all cultures as opposed to being unique in American society, e.g.: Do all societies believe in a beginning and an end to their universe? To what extent are cosmological ideas reflected in urban planning and particularly in the design of sacred space? In what specific ways do developed world views depend upon cycles of social interaction? This course is open to juniors and seniors only.

SOAN 452 Senior Seminar: Issues in Contemporary Anthropology
staff
A seminar for senior concentrators that is designed to consider the growth and development of theoretical traditions within anthropology since the 1960s. Readings are selected from among the most important and influential ethnographic and theoretical works produced in anthropology during the past three decades. Prerequisite: SOAN 304, or permission of instructor.  Credit in Native American Studies is granted when a student's research paper focuses on a Native American topic.

SOAN 453 Senior Seminar: Issues in Contemporary Sociology
staff
A seminar for senior concentrators that is designed to study selected issues suggested by other courses in the department.  These issues may pertain to recent developments in the discipline and specific problematic areas in sociological analysis.  Prerequisite:  SOAN 101, 102, 302, and 310, or by permission of instructor.  Credit in Native American Studies is granted when a student's research paper focuses on a Native American topic.

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