The University of New Mexico will offer a bachelor’s degree in Native American studies beginning spring semester 2005. The UNM Board of Regents approved the curriculum at today’s meeting.
UNM joins approximately 35 institutions offering the native studies major, according to the Guide to Native American Studies Programs in the United States and Canada. UNM has offered a minor in native studies since 1999. The major has long been a goal – dating back to 1964 as a point of discussion in UNM Kiva club meetings.
A UNM major in Native American studies will require completion of 36 credit hours – 18 hours of required core courses, 12 hours of course work in a concentration area and six hours of upper division work. NAS faculty and affiliate faculty cut across disciplines at UNM. Required courses include an introduction to Native American studies, sociopolitical concepts, traditions of Native American philosophy, two courses on research methods, an internship or a semester of individual study.
“The major has a well-grounded foundation in research and applied experience. There is no reason why students at a Bachelor’s level should not be skillful researchers and know how to apply their knowledge in real life situations,” said Greg Cajete, UNM Native American Studies program director.
American Indian studies programs were created at a number of universities in the United States beginning in the late 1960s. UNM’s program was founded in 1970 as a support program for Native American students. In 1998, through the efforts of University College Dean Peter White, NAS became a full interdisciplinary academic program housed in University College.
A year later, a minor was formally approved. The department’s status outside the College of Arts and Sciences, although rare, allows for more service learning and community-based research, Cajete said.
According to a recent report from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, only four percent of the native population earns a bachelor's degree.
“We are trying to create a native learning community using native studies as a context for learning, teaching and research about the dynamic process of being Native American in a 21st century world,” Cajete said.
UNM provides an ideal setting for the bachelor’s program, he added. The university is situated near one of the country’s largest Native American population centers. The university is also unique among higher education institutions in that it employs more than 30 Native American faculty in tenure track positions and approximately 250 Native American staff. In addition, UNM has approximately 3,000 Native American students “making it one of the largest concentrations of Native American students in a university in the country,” Cajete said.
The NAS degree areas of concentration include: interdisciplinary culture and environmental studies; education and language; arts and literature. A fourth area has been added to emphasize the program’s strength in teaching leadership and self-determination. Courses cover native nation building, treaties and agreements, politics of identity and contemporary approaches to federal Indian law.
“It has been a long journey to reach this point and I wish to thank everyone, students, faculty, staff, administrators and tribal leaders – past and present – who have added their voice or otherwise assisted in the realization of this important goal,” Cajete said. “The passage of the NAS-BA degree proposal by the UNM Board of Regents marks an important new era in New Mexico Indian education. Our collective wish is for a bright and prosperous future for this program at UNM.”
Contact: Laurie Mellas Ramirez, Sr. Public Affairs Representative, (505) 277-5915
Posted by scarr at December 14, 2004 05:00 PM