Native American Studies College of Letters & Science

Zoila Mendoza, Chairperson of the Department; term ends June 30, 2024

Department Office

2407 Hart Hall; 530-752-3237; Native American Studies; Faculty

Native American Studies (NAS)

NAS 001 — Introduction to Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to Native American Studies with emphasis upon basic concepts relating to Native American historical and political development.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 005 — Introduction to Native American Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Intensive focus on analysis of Native American literary texts, with frequent writing assignments to develop critical thinking and composition skills.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of Subject A requirement.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 005A — Writer's Workshop (2 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Disciplinary writing support course focuses on the development of writing and revision strategies, exploring ways to understand a writing task, to develop appropriate content for a writing task, to revise content to reflect competence as a communicator.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion 2 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Concurrent enrollment in a lower division writing course required, preferably NAS 005; if necessary, based upon demand and academic advisor approval, students may concurrently enroll in an equivalent course (ENL 003 or UWP 001), instead.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • NAS 005A — Writer's Workshop (2 units)
  • Course Description: Disciplinary writing support course focuses on the development of writing and revision strategies, exploring ways to understand a writing task, to develop appropriate content for a writing task, to revise content to reflect competence as a communicator.
  • Prerequisite(s): Has not yet completed the Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR); concurrent enrollment in NAS 005 required.
  • Learning Activities: Discussion 2 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Spring Quarter 2025.

NAS 007 — Indigenous & Minority Languages (4 units)

Course Description: Survey of the status of indigenous, immigrant, and other minority languages in the Americas and around the world. Topics include linguistic diversity, language endangerment & revitalization, heritage language maintenance in immigrant communities, and language change due to transcultural interactions.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 010 — Native American Experience (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the diverse cultures of Native American peoples from North, Central, and South America. Emphasis on Native American voices in the expression of cultural views and in the experience of conflicting values.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 012 — Native American/Indigenous Film (4 units)

Course Description: Survey and analysis of the visual colonization of Native American peoples and the contemporary responses by Native American/Indigenous filmmakers claiming visual sovereignty. Examines a range of filmic genres including documentary, features, shorts, festivals, TV and Internet screening.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing, Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 030 — Homeland History (4 units)

Course Description: Indigenous histories of the Wintun Patwin homelands in which the University of California, Davis is situated. Tribal-federal, tribal-state, and tribal-university relations from the 19th century through the present.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s); Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Fall Quarter 2024.

NAS 032 — Native American Music & Dance (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the music and dance of Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Indigenous music and dance from comparative, interdisciplinary, and global perspectives in order to learn about historic and contemporary issues (e.g., social, cultural, economic, technical, and aesthetic) facing Indigenous communities, and the ways in which the issues are expressed through music and dance practices.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Visual Literacy (VL).

NAS 033 — Introduction to Native American Art (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to Native American Art from throughout North America, inclusive of traditional forms, techniques and designs in a range of media including ceramics, basketry, fiberwork, carving, painting, sculpture and photography within a context of social and political history.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 034 — Native American Art Studio (4 units)

Course Description: Studio projects to be influenced by contemporary and traditional Native American arts. Examples of designs and media presented in lectures will be of indigenous origin. Introduction and familiarized with various materials and techniques.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 2 hour(s), Studio 6 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Limited enrollment.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

NAS 050 — Colloquium in Native American & Indigenous Studies (1 unit)

Course Description: Speaker series on contemporary theory and research in Native American and Indigenous Studies.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Listening 1 hour(s), Extensive Writing, Project.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Open to Native American Studies majors and minors only.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 4 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: P/NP only.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Winter Quarter 2025.

NAS 093 — Powwow Internship (1-4 units)

Course Description: Supervised internship for the annual UC Davis Powwow.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Internship 3-12 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 12 unit(s) including course 189 and other internships taken in other departments and institutions.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 098 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)

Course Description: Directed group study.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 099 — Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for undergraduates.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 101 — Contemporary Native American Art (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of contemporary artworks by selected Native American and Indigenous Master artists, in a wide range of media, including ceramics, metal arts, photography, video, painting, installation and performance within a context of political and social histories.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Visual Literacy (VL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 107 — Learning Native American Languages (4 units)

Course Description: Self-directed study of a Native American language using revitalization strategies. Origins of language endangerment and the importance of language for cultural reclamation.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated when in a different language or undertaking more advanced work on a language previously studied.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); World Cultures (WC).

NAS 108 — Indigenous Languages of California (4 units)

Course Description: Survey of the indigenous languages of the California region: linguistic prehistory, languages at first European contact, subsequent language loss, current efforts at language and cultural revitalization, indigenous languages of recent immigrants to California.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 109 — Native American Language Spotlight (4 units)

Course Description: In-depth examination of the history, structure, and sociolinguistics of a particular Native American language or language family. Different language studied each time the course is offered. Oral proficiency component included in some years.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated when language/language family differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 110A — Quechua Language & Society: Beginning Level 1 (4 units)

Course Description: Quechua language and society emphasizing the practical use of the language. Provides some basic Quechua communication skills and with an initial knowledge about contemporary Andean society and the status of Quechua language today.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Not open to students who took NAS 107 in the fall quarter of 2007.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 110B — Quechua Language & Society: Beginning Level 2 (4 units)

Course Description: Second Level of the teaching of Quechua language and society. Emphasis on development of conversational and reading skills. Continuation of the study of aspects of contemporary Andean society and the status of Quechua language today.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 110A.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 110C — Quechua Language & Society: Intermediate Level 1 (4 units)

Course Description: Third level of the teaching of Quechua language and society. Emphasis on development of conversational and reading skills. Introduction to more complex grammatical structures. Continuing the study of contemporary Andean society and the status of Quechua language today.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 110A; NAS 110B.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 110D — Quechua Language & Society: Intermediate Level 2 (4 units)

Course Description: Fourth level of the teaching of Quechua language and society. Emphasis on complex structural patterns while emphasizing conversational skills and improving reading competence. Study of different sociopolitical processes that have affected Andean identity and the status of Quechua language.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 110A; NAS 110B; NAS 110C.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 115 — Native Americans in the Contemporary World (4 units)

Course Description: Important issues facing Native Americans in the contemporary world. Focus primarily on the diverse ways of life, histories and realities of indigenous people throughout the Americas as they develop their own cultural and political institutions.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 116 — Native American Traditional Governments (4 units)

Course Description: Study of selected Native American Tribal Governments, confederations, leagues, and alliance systems.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 001; ANT 002.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 117 — Native American Governmental Decision Making (4 units)

Course Description: Native American governmental and community decision making with emphasis on federal and state programs, tribal sovereignty, current political trends and funding for tribal services.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 116; POL 002; ANT 123 recommended.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 118 — Native American Politics (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of the various interest groups and movements found among Native people and how they relate to the determination of Indian affairs. Study of political action available to Native groups, and local communities, along with relevant theory relating to underdevelopment.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 119 — Introduction to Federal Indian Law (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the foundational cases and statutes of federal Indian law, from European Contact through the 20th century.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 120 — Ethnopolitics of South American Indians (4 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Social, political, cultural movements of indigenous South Americans in response to establishment, expansion of European colonialism, post-colonial nation-states. Ethnopolitical processes developed through interactions between Indians, Euroamericans. Socioethnographic analysis of main indigenous areas and the development of national societies. May be taught abroad.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 001; (NAS 010 or NAS 055).

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • NAS 120 — Ethnopolitics of South American Indians (4 units)
  • Course Description: Social, political, cultural movements of indigenous South Americans in response to establishment, expansion of European colonialism, post-colonial nation-states. Ethnopolitical processes developed through interactions between Indians, Euroamericans. Socioethnographic analysis of main indigenous areas and the development of national societies.
  • Prerequisite(s): NAS 001; (NAS 010 or NAS 055).
  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Fall Quarter 2024.

NAS 121 — Corporate Colonialism (4 units)

Course Description: Price of progress and modernity for native and non-native people. History of the corporation and neoliberalism, military and intelligence agencies, debt, Taylorism, education institutions, media, and law. Discussion of alternatives advocated by contemporary and indigenous social movements.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 001, NAS 010 or NAS 012 encouraged, but not required.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 122 — Native American Community Development (4 units)

Course Description: Application of community development theory and techniques to the development problems of Native American communities.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 001 or NAS 010.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 123 — Native Foods & Farming of the Americas (4 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Crop domestication, agrodiversity, and cuisines of the Americas. Cultural and social history of native American foods like maize, potatoes, quinoa, chocolate, peppers, beans, avocados, etc. Discussion of socio-economic, environmental, legal challenges facing indigenous and peasant farmers today.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Science & Engineering (SE) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); World Cultures (WC).
  • NAS 123 — Native Foods & Farming of the Americas (4 units)
  • Course Description: Crop domestication, agrodiversity, and cuisines of the Americas. Cultural and social history of native American foods like maize, potatoes, quinoa, chocolate, peppers, beans, avocados, etc. Discussion of socio-economic, environmental, legal challenges facing indigenous and peasant farmers today.
  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Science & Engineering (SE) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Spring Quarter 2025.

NAS 123V — Native Foods & Farming of the Americas (4 units)

Course Description: Crop domestication, agrodiversity, and cuisines of the Americas. Cultural and social history of native American foods like maize, potatoes, quinoa, chocolate, peppers, beans, avocados, etc. Discussion of socio-economic, environmental, legal challenges facing indigenous and peasant farmers today.

  • Learning Activities: Web Virtual Lecture 3 hour(s), Web Electronic Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Science & Engineering (SE) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Spring Quarter 2025.

NAS 125 — Performance & Culture Among Native Americans (4 units)

Course Description: Interdisciplinary study of public expressive forms among Native Americans. Comparison and analysis of music, dances, rituals, and dramas from throughout North, Central, and South America in their social and cultural contexts. Extensive film viewing.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 3 hour(s).
  • Credit Limitation(s): Not open for credit to students who have completed MUS 125.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 130A — Native American Ethno-Historical Development (4 units)

Course Description: Study of Native American ethno-history in North America before 1770s.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 130B — Native American Ethno-Historical Development (4 units)

Course Description: Study of Native American ethno-history in North America, 1770-1890.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 130C — Native American Ethno-Historical Development (4 units)

Course Description: Study of Native American ethno-history in North America after 1890.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 133 — Ethnohistory of Native People of Mexico & Central America (4 units)

Course Description: Ethnohistorical development of pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial Mexican and Central American indigenous people; the impact of economic and political factors on the process of cultural adaptation. Attention is given to the questions of nation-building, forced assimilation, indigenous resistance, organized political responses.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 133A — Ethnohistory of Native Peoples of Mexico & Central America to 1500 (4 units)

Course Description: Ethnohistorical development of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America up to and including the earliest period of European contact. Focus is on indigenous written historical records of the Maya, Mixtec, and Nahuatl peoples.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 1 time(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS).

NAS 133B — Ethnohistory of Native Peoples of Mexico & Central America 1500 to 2000 (4 units)

Course Description: Ethnohistory of indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America from 1500 to contemporary times. Focus on social and cultural dynamics, particularly the role of indigenous people in the process of nation-state building in Mexico and Central America.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 134 — Race, Culture, & Nation (4 units)

Course Description: Exploration of complexities of Native American racial, cultural and national identities and alliances. Study of tribal and federal citizenship, mixed descent and diasporic people(s), claims to resources, ethnic fraud and contemporary movements of cultural resurgence and political sovereignty and self-determination.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor; NAS 001 or NAS 010 encouraged, but not required.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 135 — Gender Construction in Native Societies (4 units)

Course Description: Historical and traditional Native American constructions of feminine, masculine, and non-binary genders with attention to culture- and place-based gender roles and statuses. Analysis of problems with contemporary terminologies and impacts of colonization on contemporary constructions of gender identities.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing or consent of instructor; NAS 001 or NAS 010 encouraged, but not required.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Project.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 146 — Orientation to Research in Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to basic research resources pertinent to Native American subjects available in the region, including libraries, archives, museums, etc. Emphasis on learning to use documentary resources or other collections of data. Students will carry out individual projects.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; Native American Studies major or minor, or consent of instructor; NAS 001 or NAS 010 encouraged, but not required.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 157 — Native American Religion & Philosophy (4 units)

Course Description: Religious and philosophical traditions of Native American/indigenous peoples of the Americas.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 161 — California Indian Environmental Policy I (4 units)

Course Description: Contemporary California Indian environmental policy issues, with a focus on water, minerals, contamination, and alliance-building. Issues will be placed within historical and political context, drawing on theories of Native environmental ethics, environmental justice, and Federal Indian law.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 162 — California Indian Environmental Policy II (4 units)

Course Description: Contemporary California Indian environmental policy issues, with a focus on planning, site protection, and collaborative structures. Issues will be placed within historical and political context, drawing on theories of Native environmental ethics, environmental justice, and Federal Indian law.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 165 — Keepers of the Flame: Native American Cultural Burning & Land Stewardship in California (4 units)

Course Description: Use of fire by California Indian tribes to maintain ecosystems that sustain their economic, cultural, and spiritual well being. Guests include Native American cultural practitioners and prescribed fire professionals.

Prerequisite(s): consent of instructor; course involves regular field days working with cultural burn practitioners.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 1.5 hour(s), Fieldwork.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD).

NAS 171 — Indigenous Mesoamerica (4 units)

Course Description: Peoples, cultures and history of Mexico and Central America from pre-Columbian civilizations to the present. Resistance to colonial and neo-colonial rule. Maya movements in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, past and present.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); World Cultures (WC); Writing Experience (WE).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Winter Quarter 2025.

NAS 175V — Hemispheric Indigenous Connections (4 units)

Course Description: Indigenous worlds in motion in the Americas, 1491-present. Comparative Indigenous experiences of colonialism and neocolonialism, plus histories of resistance, cultural survival, and transnational grassroots organizing with an emphasis on environmental justice movements.

  • Learning Activities: Web Virtual Lecture 3 hour(s), Web Electronic Discussion 1 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Pass One restricted to UC Davis students.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Social Sciences (SS); Visual Literacy (VL); World Cultures (WC).

NAS 180 — Native American Women (4 units)

Course Description: Native American women's life experiences, cross-cultural comparisons of gender roles, and Native women's contemporary feminist thought. Utilizes texts from literature, social science, and autobiography/biography.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 181A — Native American Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Works of fiction (short story, novel) by contemporary Native American authors, with an emphasis on writers from the United States.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 005 or ENG 003 or COM 001 or COM 002 or COM 003.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); American Cultures, Governance, & History (ACGH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 181B — Native American Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Works by or about Native Americans including non-fiction novels, biographies and autobiographies. Explore ways Native Americans create and recreate their culture through the creative process in literature. Examine from a critical perspective autobiographies and testimonial literature.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 005 or ENG 003 or COM 001 or COM 002 or COM 003.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 181C — Contemporary Native American Poetry (4 units)

Course Description: Works of poetry by contemporary Native American/indigenous poets, with some attention to traditional cultural poetic expressions.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 184 — Contemporary Indigenous Literature of Mexico (4 units)

Course Description: Contemporary indigenous literature of Mexico, with a focus on the genres (poetry, fiction, drama, essay); analysis of cultural, historical, and spiritual themes, imagery, styles and performances; biographies of and influences on the Native writers themselves.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 001 or NAS 010; NAS 181A or NAS 181C recommended; reading knowledge of Spanish required.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Oral Skills (OL); World Cultures (WC).

NAS 185 — Native American Literature in Performance (4 units)

Course Description: Performance of contemporary Native American literature onstage, through adaptations of selected literature as well as the creation of original pieces.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Performance Instruction 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 4 unit(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); World Cultures (WC).

NAS 188 — Special Topics in Native American Literary Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Special topics drawn from Native American literature.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing and one of the following recommended: NAS 005, NAS 010, NAS 181A, NAS 181C.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 189 — Powwow Internship (1-4 units)

Course Description: Supervised internship for the annual UC Davis Powwow.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Internship 3-12 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to upper division standing.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 12 unit(s) including course 189 and other internships taken in other departments and institutions.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 190 — Seminar in Native American Studies (2 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Seminar of critical issues faced by Native American people.

Prerequisite(s): Senior Standing.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion 2 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.
  • NAS 190 — Advanced Seminar on Sovereignty & Autonomy (4 units)
  • Course Description: Advanced course for NAS majors on contemporary theory and practice in Native American and Indigenous Studies.
  • Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s).
  • Credit Limitation(s): Open to junior and senior NAS majors; NAS minors with consent of instructor.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS).
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Summer Session 1 2025.

NAS 191 — Topics in Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Selected topics in Native American Studies related to indigenous knowledges and worldviews from a historical, cultural, hemispheric perspective.

Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing.

  • Learning Activities: Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated when instructor and/or topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH) or Social Sciences (SS); Domestic Diversity (DD); Oral Skills (OL); Writing Experience (WE).

NAS 192 — Internship (1-12 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Supervised internship in the CN Gorman Museum, community, and institutional settings related to Native American concerns.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; enrollment dependent on availability of intern position in Native American Studies or the CN Gorman Museum, with priority to Native American Studies minors/majors.

  • Learning Activities: Internship 1 hour(s).
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to upper division standing.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 12 unit(s) including course 192 and other interships taken in other departments and institutions.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.
  • General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH).
  • NAS 192 — Apprenticeship & Internship (1-12 units)
  • Course Description: Supervised internships or elder-guided apprenticeships in community, educational, or other institutional settings in the U.S. or abroad that put into practice Native American and Indigenous concepts, cosmologies, and ways of knowing and being.
  • Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.
  • Learning Activities: Internship.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Restricted to upper division standing; dependent on intern position availability in Native American Studies or the CN Gorman Museum; priority to Native American Studies minors/majors.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated for credit when apprenticeship or institution differs, and/or with consent of supervising faculty that some novel experiential learning occurs.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Winter Quarter 2025.

NAS 194HA — Special Studies for Honors Students (4 units)

Course Description: Directed reading, research and writing culminating in the completion of a senior honors thesis or project under direction of faculty advisor.

Prerequisite(s): Senior qualifying for honors.

  • Learning Activities: Independent Study 12 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 194HB — Special Studies for Honors Students (4 units)

Course Description: Directed reading, research and writing culminating in the completion of a senior honors thesis or project under direction of faculty advisor.

Prerequisite(s): Senior qualifying for honors.

  • Learning Activities: Independent Study 12 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 195 — Field Experience in Native American Studies (12 units)

Course Description: Field work with governmental and community groups, under supervision of faculty advisor and sponsor. Knowledge acquired in other courses to be applied in field work.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 161; senior standing and major in Native American Studies, completion of lower division major requirements.

  • Learning Activities: Fieldwork 36 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 196 — Senior Project in Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Guided research project that enables student to apply the theory and research principles from major course work. Final product is to be a major senior project or thesis.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 195 (can be concurrent); and consent of instructor; senior standing and major in Native American Studies.

  • Learning Activities: Discussion 1 hour(s), Independent Study 3 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 197TC — Community Tutoring in Native American Studies (1-5 units)

Course Description: Supervise tutoring in community.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of major committee; upper division standing with major in Native American Studies.

  • Learning Activities: Tutorial 3-15 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 198 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)

This version has ended; see updated course, below.
Course Description: Directed group study. May be taught abroad.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; upper division standing.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.
  • NAS 198 — Directed Group Study (1-5 units)
  • Course Description: Directed group study.
  • Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; upper division standing.
  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.
  • This course version is effective from, and including: Fall Quarter 2024.

NAS 199 — Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5 units)

Course Description: Special study for advanced undergraduates.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.

NAS 200 — Basic Concepts in Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Analysis of characteristics of the discipline of Native American Studies. Concentration of traditional and contemporary native scholarship and thought as well as theoretical and methodological consequences derived from application of these ideas.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 3 time(s) when instructor differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 202 — Advanced Topics in Native American Studies (4 units)

Course Description: Advanced study of selected topics or themes relevant to the field of Native American studies. Topics will be announced at the time of offering.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 207 — Leadership Skills & Strategies in California Language Documentation & Revitalization (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the indigenous languages of the Americas, with a focus on California; an examination of how contemporary Native communities document and revitalize their heritage languages. Learn to assist and administer language programs.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 208 — Advanced Study of Native American Languages (4 units)

Course Description: Advanced study of Native American languages. Development of proficiency in a particular language in order to incorporate language into Native American Studies research and argumentation. Engagement with theoretical perspectives on social, cultural, and structural dimensions of language to guide language study.

Prerequisite(s): NAS 107 or equivalent background with a Native American language.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Practice, Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 212 — Community Development for Sovereignty & Autonomy (4 units)

Course Description: Examines a sample of contemporary indigenous communities from south, central and north America with the goal of understanding and evaluating the strategies adopted by Native American communities to develop and implement forms of sovereignty or autonomous self-management.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 213 — Native Criminality & Deviance (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of "deviance" in Native communities with focus on Native criminality in North America. Analysis of the concept of deviance from several different world views. Readings from a range of theories to incorporate varying theoretical perspective on criminality and deviance.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 217 — Public Law 83-280: Colonial Termination (4 units)

Course Description: Examination of the signature law of the Termination Era, Public Law 83-280. Discussions to include termination, societal conformity, political consent, jurisdiction, self-determination & decolonization, and colonial relationship between Native Peoples and the United States.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing, including school of law students.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 220 — Colonialism, Neoliberalism, & Indigenous Self-Determination (4 units)

Course Description: History, political economy and legacies of imperial/colonial systems. Continuities and discontinuities with corporate globalization and neoliberalism. Focus on resistance and self-determination of indigenous peoples, but with comparison to other groups.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 224 — Performance in the Americas (4 units)

Course Description: Ethnomusicological and anthropological approaches to study of public performance in the Americas. New ways of looking at music, dance, rituals and other forms of public expressive forms normally called "folklore" or "popular culture."

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Credit Limitation(s): Not open for credit to students who have completed MUS 224. (Former MUS 224.).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 233 — Visual Sovereignty (4 units)

Course Description: Extensively examine the field of contemporary Native American and Indigenous photography, film and performance through research of artworks, writings by artists, theorists, and material in museum collections.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Film Viewing 2 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 2 time(s) when topic differs.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 237 — Native American Art Collections & Museums (4 units)

Course Description: Research and examination of regional Native American art held in museums and other public institutions, as well as privately-held collections. Includes onsite viewing and research of museum collections and archives.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 240 — Native American Public Health: Topics & Issues (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to Native American public health issues and contributing causal factors (including environmental justice and historical trauma); the dimensions of cultural competency in diagnosis and service provision; the structure of Native health care institutions; and debates in Native treatment modalities.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 246 — Native American/Indigenous Research Methodologies (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to advanced methodologies currently influencing research in Native American Studies and among Indigenous communities. Develop an original project and course assignments will guide them through the process of research design and implementation.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 250 — Indigenous Critique of Classic Maya Ethnographies (4 units)

Course Description: Construction of the Maya world through ethnographic writing during the present century. Deconstruction of ethnographies about the Mayans considering the modern theories and social/anthropological critiques of modern ethnographies.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or consent of instructor.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 4 hour(s).
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 254 — Native American Literature (4 units)

Course Description: Introduction to the field of Native American Literature, creative works (fiction, poetry, memoir, personal essay), literary studies.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Open to graduate students only.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 1 time(s) when readings content is completely distinct from the course previously taken.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 257 — Indigenous Religious Traditions in the Americas (4 units)

Course Description: Religious/spiritual traditions, belief-systems, and world-views of Native American/indigenous peoples in the Americas. Land, ecological knowledge, sacred sites, the role of tricksters, language (revitalization), gender, ethics of representation, cultural revitalization, renewed ancient knowledge and practices, ceremonial (and daily) performance of the sacred, music, the arts, the worlds of the sacred, the rules of the sacred, freedom of religion.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Extensive Writing.
  • Enrollment Restriction(s): Graduate student enrollment only.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated 1 time(s) when readings content is completely distinct from the course previously taken.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 280 — Ethnohistorical Theory & Method (4 units)

Course Description: Discussion of the ethnohistorical method; the utilization of diverse types of data, especially documentary sources, to reconstruct socio-cultural history. Particular attention to the applied area of ethnohistory in the solution of contemporary social problems.

  • Learning Activities: Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper.
  • Grade Mode: Letter.

NAS 298 — Group Study for Graduate Students (1-5 units)

Course Description: Group study for graduate students.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

NAS 299 — Special Study for Graduate Students (1-12 units)

Course Description: Special study for graduate students.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor; graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Variable.
  • Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only.

NAS 396 — Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4 units)

Course Description: Teaching assistant training.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.

  • Learning Activities: Internship.
  • Repeat Credit: May be repeated.
  • Grade Mode: Pass/No Pass only.