ANTH 347L: Indigenous Research Methodologies

This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of research methodologies, present core concepts in critical Indigenous studies, and demonstrate how to implement ethical practices into any research design. Intended for students who are interested in initiating their own research projects in the future, the course is structured to enable those with little prior knowledge of Indigenous research methods to plan, document, and revise an original project and appropriate research questions. This course is international in focus with some readings from Indigenous scholars in Australia, New Zealand, Palestine, Scotland, and more (i.e. settler or colonized states). Literature is drawn from Indigenous scholars and case studies from communities such as Ahkwesa'hsne Mohawk, Nga'ti Awa and Nga'ti Porou iwi Aboriginal Australians, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Dakota, just to name a few. This course builds on students' preexisting experiences, preferred methods of inquiry, and research interests so that they gain a deeper understanding of the skills and tools required for the social sciences and humanities disciplines more broadly but can be applied in many disciplines, even those unrelated to Native studies. Finally, this course will also introduce students to several beneficial technologies and software programs for use in research for general literature reviews and bibliography compilation, collaborative analysis of qualitative data, and digital humanities projects.