The UNC System has partnered with three other universities from the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) to offer multi-campus hybrid courses in Native American Studies. UNC Asheville students will study alongside students from the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus; the University of Minnesota Morris; and the State University of New York Genesco in exploring Native American Studies from a multi-faceted viewpoint. Students who elect to take these hybrid courses will participate in the online course component offered through COPLAC, as well as work with UNC Asheville faculty members on campus.
Course Sample – Indigenous Thought and Knowledge
Dr. Janet Wesselius, University of Alberta, Augustana Campus
This course introduces the student to both historical and contemporary forms of indigenous thought in North America. Thoughtful reflection about knowledge and reality is common to all cultures. However, indigenous thought is no more homogeneous than other cultures; each engages in these reflections with different interests and a different set of assumptions about how to approach this material and what sorts of questions to ask.
One of the goals of the course is to create a space for “inter-philosophy” dialogue: to allow people with different philosophies and worldviews to talk to each other. A related goal is to provide students an opportunity to engage with “word warriors”, those aboriginal people who “do the intellectual work of protecting and empowering indigenous ways of knowing” (Dale Turner, 2006) and “Socratic settlers”, those non-aboriginal people who practice “persistent dialogue” (John Ralston Saul, 1997).