A student initiative called 500 Nations started the ball rolling in 2008 with the collaboration of a few professors, and it’s been continuing since then — with new courses, speakers, and events every year. The Program now consists of a Minor in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, an Interdisciplinary Studies Major, and a specialization in the Master’s Program of the Center for Latin American Studies.
For a number of years, the Program worked closely with the College’s Multicultural and Diversity Affairs Program. Every year, the month of November has been celebrated as Native American Heritage Month, with cultural events, speakers, and debates involving regional and nationally-known Native American scholars, activists, and public figures. Today, the Program collaborates with the APIA (Asia-Pacific Island-Americas) Association in holding events.
The Program also began observing Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with a 2014 symposium focusing on the theme of “Indigenous Knowledge, Spiritualities and the Future of Humans in Nature,” co-sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture.
Academic Options
Minor: This minor, housed in the Department of Anthropology, allows students to focus on North, Central, or South America with additional interdisciplinary focus in anthropology, art history, history, literature and religion.
Master’s Specialization: the Center for Latin American Studies offers a specialization in Indigenous Studies designed for students whose career plans and educational goals include focus on Indigenous peoples of Latin America, their diverse cultural traditions, histories of relations to nation-states, and their increasing participation in processes of global indigeneity.
Future of Program
Our immediate goal is to make connections with other programs of Native studies, find the resources necessary to develop our projects, and continue our outreach to Native American communities in Florida and the Southeastern U.S. For the Program to grow, we seek greater recruitment to and enrollments in the Program, greater attractiveness of its offerings, and greater recognition that this Program is capable of producing scholars, researchers, and educators.