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American Indian Studies Program at MSU List of Fall 2008/Spring 2009 AISP Courses The American Indian Studies Program (AISP) at Michigan State University seeks to form an understanding of American Indian cultures and identities, the place of American Indian/ Indigenous people in today’s world, and the changing demands of American Indian/Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of cross-cultural diversity. We believe these are issues that transcend traditional boundaries between academic disciplines. To understand the complexity of these subjects and to respond to them thoughtfully, students require a range of training both across disciplines and outside university settings. Michigan State University’s AISP is designed to meet this need. The Native population of Michigan is proportionally one of the largest of those states east of the Mississippi. The American Indian Studies undergraduate specialization at MSU insures that the state's largest university offers a program of study that explores the indigenous foundations of this country and recognizes the continuing contribution of Native/Indigenous peoples to North American and Global society. The American Indian Studies Program participates with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and annual C.I.C. American Indian Studies events at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Currently AISP has 26 affiliated faculty members working in departments of American Studies, Anthropology, English, Family & Child Ecology, History, Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, Religious Studies, Spanish & Portuguese, Writing Rhetoric and American Cultures (WRAC), the School of Social Work, the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, the College of Nursing, the College of Law and the MSU Museum. Specific offerings on Native/Indigenous issues are assigned in the Undergraduate Specialization, as well as Graduate level courses for those concentrating on Indian issues. AISP affiliated courses are wide ranging. WRAC offers “American Indian Rhetorics,” and “Writing the American Ethnic and Racial Experience.” American Studies courses offer “special topics” such as seminars on “American Indian Contemporary Issues” or “The American Indian and the Environment.” In the Law department you will find, “Federal Law and Indian Tribes,” and “Advanced topics in Indian Law.” Anthropology offers “American Indian Prehistory,” “Contemporary Indian Communities,” “American Indian Women” and a variety of other classes. English courses offer the study of contemporary American Indian literature and American Indian oral traditions. In History, students can take general survey courses on a variety of historical issues from European contact to the present, as well as courses on American Indians and the fur trade. Religious Studies offers a course on American Indian religions. Students can also take courses on Ojibwe language taught by Helen Roy, a native Ojibwe language speaker. Issues of community evolvement, language retention and preservation are of personal and academic importance to AISP faculty, and hence the list of academic offerings is always growing. The Graduate Affiliation The American Indian Studies Program (AISP) at Michigan State University supports and offers course work for graduate students. Doctoral and Masters students affiliate with AISP as an area of interest in conjunction with their major fields of study. AISP supports graduate student research and travel to conferences. Currently, there are over 50 affiliated graduate students, getting degrees in such fields as American Studies, Anthropology, Fisheries and Wildlife, Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education, History, Law, Rhetoric & Writing, Social Work, and Teacher Education. Our focus is to help students, both undergraduate and graduate, to become competent scholars and active community members. Professional activity such as presenting formal papers at conferences adds to this mission, as well as making networking contacts that will ensure the growth and stability of the program. By stressing the interrelationship of academia and community, the American Indian Studies Program at MSU creates strong scholars and a sustainable commitment to both American Indian Studies and Indigenous communities. The AISP Office The AISP Office is staffed by Megan McCullen, our Graduate Assistant, Monday-Thursday, 9am-1pm. For more information contact:
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