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Applied Indigenous Studies
Description: This course studies the relationship between visual images of Indigenous peoples and the social construction of Indianness in greater American film by examining images circulate in the larger historical, social, and political contexts of American society. It contextualizes the relationship between (mis)representations of Indigenous people and government policies by viewing a range of film genres including documentaries, dramas, comedies, social movements, and futurism shorts to study how Indigenous people have been portrayed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This course offers an examination of popular expectations of what Indigenous people look like, how Indigenous people are, what they do and not do, and how these expectations relate to cinematic genres like Westerns. It examines Indigenous filmmakers¿ contemporary works as visual sovereignty, reclaiming control over representation, as they deconstruct and critique reductive stereotypes. Cross-listed with ES 207. Letter grade only.
Units: 3
No sections currently offered.
Course Attributes:
Applied Indigenous Studies
Term : Fall 2026
Catalog Year : 2026-2027
AIS 207 - Indigenous Films
Description: This course studies the relationship between visual images of Indigenous peoples and the social construction of Indianness in greater American film by examining images circulate in the larger historical, social, and political contexts of American society. It contextualizes the relationship between (mis)representations of Indigenous people and government policies by viewing a range of film genres including documentaries, dramas, comedies, social movements, and futurism shorts to study how Indigenous people have been portrayed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This course offers an examination of popular expectations of what Indigenous people look like, how Indigenous people are, what they do and not do, and how these expectations relate to cinematic genres like Westerns. It examines Indigenous filmmakers¿ contemporary works as visual sovereignty, reclaiming control over representation, as they deconstruct and critique reductive stereotypes. Cross-listed with ES 207. Letter grade only.
Units: 3
No sections currently offered.
Course Attributes:
- LS: U.S. Ethnic Diversity
- GS: Indigenous Peoples
- GS: Social & Political Worlds
- GS: Social & Political Worlds + Indigenous
- LS: Social & Political Worlds + US Ethnic
- LS: Social and Political Worlds