ON-IDIS 172 Introduction to Indigenous Studies

This is a survey course of Indigenous peoples and issues from their origins in North America to the contemporary period. In general, this course seeks to legitimize the place (and indeed, centrality) of Indigenous peoples and issues within historic and contemporary Canada.

Utilizing Indigenous and non-Indigenous literature and research, this course will explore Indigenous cultures in Canada, with attention paid to Indigenous histories, worldview, knowledge and belief systems, subjectivities, and identities, as well as concepts including post-Indigeneity, Indigenous experience in everyday life, cultural production, culture as socially constructed, and performativity, among others. In addition, the course will examine the impact of colonization, including residential schools, intergenerational trauma and healing, wellbeing, lifeways, and cultures. Using the lenses of critical Indigenous studies theories and others, we will explore these aspects of Indigeneity.

Notes: 3 credits