Course

Global Indigenous Experiential Learning

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Course Code
ANTH 1800
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 Weeks
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Online
Hybrid
Lecture
Seminar
Field Experience
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course will provide students with global Indigenous experiential learning, through study abroad, field trips, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), or other global Indigenous experiences. Students will have an opportunity to learn about Indigenous peoples from around the globe in a first-person, experiential manner. Students will learn about some of the similarities and differences of global Indigenous cultures and perspectives, both in a historical and contemporary setting. Attention will be paid to the advocacy for rights by Indigenous peoples and social movements demanding self-governance. The focus of the course, thematically and geographically, will vary from one year to another determined by the exact global Indigenous experience to be undertaken.
Course Content

Course content will include:

A focus on a wide-ranging and inclusive understanding of global Indigenous peoples, cultures, histories, and contemporary issues.

An examination of Indigenous knowledge systems and methodologies, how these differ from Western forms, and the complementary relationship between the two.

Experiential learning through study abroad, travel, and field trips etc.

An introduction to cultural protocols and practices appropriate to the setting of the learning experience.

Course content may include:

An introduction to anthropological methods such as interviewing, material culture analysis, ethnobotany, fieldwork etc.

Land-based pedagogy.

Mentorship and instructional support from Indigenous knowledge keepers.

Introduction to language, place names and narratives appropriate to the setting of the learning experience.

Exploration of personal cultural traditions, such as, greeting protocols, rites of passage, and cultural practices as appropriate to the setting of the learning experience.

Analysis of case studies.

Learning Activities

The course will employ several instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some or all of the following:

  • study abroad, field trips, both extended over a period of several weeks as part of a field school, and/or local day trips
  • experiential and land-based learning
  • lectures and guest lectures
  • small and large group discussions
  • readings, audio-visual materials and case study analysis

All methods of instruction apply to in class, hybrid and/or online modes of learning.

Means of Assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline containing specific criteria during the beginning of semester and this will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods, the selected global experience, and theme of the course. Instructors will use a balance of assignments to assess learning, such as journal writing, participating in class and group discussion, essays, research papers, story-telling, oral presentations (individual and/or group), written or oral tests or quizzes, and/or essay-type exams.

Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

An example of a possible assessment scheme:

Participation:                    15%

Writing Assignment:          15%

Reflective Journal:             40%

Final Project:                     30%

Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving human subjects.

Learning Outcomes

At the completion of this course, successful students will:

  1. use insight gained from a sample of global indigenous cultures and perspectives to demonstrate a greater understanding of global Indigenous experiences in both historical and contemporary settings,
  2. be able to assess similarities and differences in global Indigenous experiences of colonization, along with contemporary struggles for legal equity and self-governance in the face of continuing neocolonialism,
  3. be able to explore multiple perspectives of research methodologies, knowledge acquisition, protocols, and ethics,
  4. participate in experiential learning and be able to critically assess the impact of that learning on their own worldview, and
  5. be able to reflect on experiential learning during study abroad/field trips and assess its relationship to their identity and community.
Textbook Materials

A list of required texts and reading materials is provided on the instructor's course outline, which is available to students at the beginning of each semester. An instructor's course reader may be required.

Sample Reading Lists:

Sample Theme A: Global Indigenous Heritage

Atalay, Sonya

2012    Community-Based Archaeology Research with, by, and for Indigenous and Local Communities. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. ISBN: 9780520273368

Basso, Keith

1996    Wisdom Sits in Places, Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. ISBN:9780826317247

Coates, Ken

2004    A Global History of Indigenous Peoples: Struggle and Survival. Palgrave McMillan, London. ISBN: 978-0-230-50907-8

Kovach, Margaret

2021     Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. ISBN: ? 978-1487525644

May Castillo, Manuel and Amy Strecker eds.

2017    Heritage and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Patrimonio y Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas. Archaeological Studies Leiden University, 39. Leiden University Press. Leiden, The Netherlands. ISBN: 9789087282998

Sissons, Jeffery

2005    First Peoples: Indigenous Cultures and Their Futures. Reaktion Books, London. ISBN: ? 978-1861892416

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai

2021    Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Third edition. Zed Books, London. ISBN: 978184139510

Thornton, Thomas F.

2008    Being and Place among the Tlingit. Culture, Place, and Nature. University of Washington Press, Seattle. ISBN 9780295987491.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf 

Wilson, Shawn

2009    Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Fernwood Publishing, Halifax. ISBN: 9781552662816

Sample Theme B: Global Indigenous Ecologies

Brody, Hugh.

2002    Maps and Dreams. Faber and Faber, London. ISBN: 978-0571209675

Dove, Michael and Carol Carpenter eds.

2008    Environmental Anthropology: A Historical Reader.  Blackwell Publishing, Malden. ISBN: 978-1-4051-1137-9.

Kawelu, Kathleen L.

2021    Kuleana and Commitment: Working Toward a Collaborative Hawaiian Archaeology. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. ISBN:  9780824892791

Kimmerer, Robin Wall.

2013    Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis. ISBN: 978-1-57131-356-0

Li, Tania.

2014.  Land’s End Capitalist Relations on an Indigenous Frontier. Duke University Press, Durham. ISBN: 978-0822357056

McIlwraith, Thomas.

2012    ‘We are Still Didene’: Stories of Hunting and History from Northern British Columbia. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. ISBN: 978-1-4426-1173-3.

Orlove, Ben.

2002    Lines the in the Water Nature and Culture at Lake Titicaca. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN: 0-520-22959-2.

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt.

2005    Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN: 0-691-12064-1.

Requisites

Prerequisites

No prerequisite courses.

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for ANTH 1800
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX ANTH 1XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU ANTH 2XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU ANTH 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) No credit
Columbia College (COLU) COLU ANTH 1st (3)
Coquitlam College (COQU) COQU ANTH 1XX (3)
Emily Carr University of Art & Design (EC) EC SOCS 100 lev (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU ANTH 2XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG ABST 2XXX (3) & LANG ANTH 2XXX (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV CST 1XX (3)
North Island College (NIC) NIC ANT 1XX (3)
Okanagan College (OC) OC ARTS 1XX (3)
Quest University (QU) QU TRN 1000 (4)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU SA 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU ANTH 2XXX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW ANTH 1XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO INDG_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ANTH_V 100 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC ANTH 1XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV AIS 280 (3) or UFV IPK 1XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC ANTH 2XX (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC INDG 1XXX (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU ANTH 1st (3)
Yorkville University (YVU) YVU GES 1XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025