Honoring Native Tradition Through Academic Excellence
Native American Studies (NAS) was originally a center in 1970, and in September 1998 NAS became an academic department within University College. In December 2004 the UNM Board of Regents approved NAS as a major within University Studies. As an interdisciplinary academic department, NAS is committed to Native academic scholarship and research excellence. Our goal is to educate and inform students about the Native experience that comes from the rich cultural heritage of the sovereign Indigenous peoples of the United States. Another goal is to create a department that collaborates with Native communities and engages students in nation building.
Native American Studies is organized into four components:
Community: NAS provides academically related activities for the larger community such as the popular Native American Studies Lecture Series. Our focus is to link the larger Native American communities to the university's academic mission. NAS faculty hosts forums, seminars, and conferences which bring Native scholars to the university campus. NAS also presents other activities to off-campus schools throughout New Mexico.
Academic: NAS offers courses emphasizing the Native experience and experiential learning. The NAS undergraduate major is offered in four interdisciplinary core areas: Leadership & Self-Determination; Language & Education; Arts & Literature; and Culture & Environment. NAS includes experiential education as a core component of each course.
Research: NAS library collection includes more than 3,000 books, journals, periodicals, and an extensive video collection for research topics relevant to Native American people and other Indigenous cultures.
Training: NAS provides learning opportunities based on the student's long term career objectives through individual study or internships that enable them to apply the knowledge they have gained in their studies.
