AIIS Courses: Spring 2022

We are proud to offer numerous courses every semester that range in content and engage various departments across campus. If you are interested in how fields such as art, art history, archaeology, English, horticulture, law, linguistics, or natural resources engage Indigenous issues, we have a course for you.

Here are the courses offered for spring 2022.

AIIS 3325: Cayuga Language and Culture II

Jessica Martin (Gayogo̱hó:nǫʔ/Six Nations Cayuga)

Hybrid; Fridays, 2:40PM - 4:35PM

A continuation of LING 3324, with further exploration of Cayuga (Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ) language and culture. Language instruction continues in an immersive learning environment with a focus on plants and growing in the spring. Cayuga Language Culture I (fall 2021) is recommended but may be waived with permission from instructor.

AIIS 1110: Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives

Professor Troy Richardson (Saponi, Ska:rù:rę'/Tuscarora)

Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:20AM - 12:10PM, plus Discussion Section

This course attends to the contemporary issues, contexts and experiences of Indigenous peoples. Students will develop a substantive understanding of colonialism and engage in the parallels and differences of its histories, forms, and effects on Indigenous peoples globally. Read more about the course here.

AIIS 2720: From the swampy land: Indigenous peoples of the Ithaca area

Professor Kurt Jordan

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:40AM - 10:55PM

Who lived in the Ithaca area before American settlers and Cornell arrived? Where do these indigenous peoples reside today? This class explores the history and culture of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ (Cayuga), which means people from the mucky land. Read more about the course here.

AIIS 4000/6000: Critical approaches to AIIS

Professor Troy Richardson (Saponi, Ska:rù:rę'/Tuscarora)

Tuesdays, 1:30PM - 4:30PM

An interdisciplinary survey of the literature in Native American Studies. Readings engage themes of indigeneity, coloniality, power, and "resistance." The syllabus is formed from some "classic" and canonical works in Native American Studies but also requires an engagement with marginal writings and theoretical and historical contributions from scholars in other disciplines.

A creek runs through a wooded gorge with a bridge in the background

Cherry blossoms outside near a brick wall.

Explore the AIIS courses offered this semester

Taking a course in American Indian and Indigenous Studies enriches your educational experience while learning about Indigenous communities, experiences, and issues, historical and contemporary.

View the spring 2022 course roster

Courses with Indigenous content

These courses are not formally cross-listed, but may count towards the AIIS minor. Please contact aiisp [at] cornell.edu (aiisp[at]cornell[dot]edu) if you have questions.

A snow covered roof with the clocktower in the background

ANTHR/ARKEO 3245/6245: Across the seas: Contacts between the Americas and the old world before Columbus

ANTHR/ARKEO, LATA 3255/6255, 3550/6255: Ancient Mexico and Central America

ANTHR/ARKEO 4240/7240: Collecting culture: Museums and anthropology

ANTHR 4725/7725: American Indian lands and sovereignties

ENGL/AMST 4615: Lovecraft Country: Blackness, Indigeneity, and literary racial …

HD 4210: Native American Psychology

SHUM 4800/6800: Rural humanities seminar: Radically Indigenous

Wednesdays, 2:40-4:25PM

Professor Jolene Rickard (Ska:rù:rę'/Tuscarora)

Limited to 20 students. Interested students must submit an application here.

This seminar focuses on Indigenous relationships to place historically and up to contemporary experiences. Based on the principles of the foundational treaty agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the early settlers, the Tekaniguswentah* or Two Row Wampum will set an Indigenous framework for our shared responsibilities to place. Read more at the link below *(Deh-gah-ni-gus-wen-tah: phonic pronunciation of the Two Row Wampum in the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' language)

SHUM 4800/6800: Rural humanities seminar: Radically Indigenous

LAW 6454: Haudenosaunee - New York State relations

Professor Robert Odawi Porter (Seneca Nation of Indians)

Thursdays, 1:00-3:55PM

The Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), otherwise known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora), have occupied lands throughout present-day New York State and Southern Ontario for hundreds of years. With the formation and ascendancy of the United States, the Haudenosaunee have lost control of most of their historic lands with an attendant loss of political influence and economic wealth. Leading this predatory effort has been the colony and state of New York.