Instructor Information: Anthony G. Gulig 
Office: White Hall 225
Office Hours: Via e-mail and by appointment 
E-Mail: guliga@uww.edu
Web Page: http://facstaff.uww.edu/guliga/
Office Phone: (262) 472-5148

Content Outline

As the course title states, Introduction to American Indian Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the many components that combine to create the contemporary American Indian experience in the United States.  A thematic approach will be applied to this study, and topics such as history, mythology, linguistics, music, theatre, literature, law, film and gender issues will be explored in some detail.  The limited time offered by the three week summer term, and the survey nature of the course, requires that topics will be examined in a survey, rather than exhaustive manner.  The various themes, readings and other content material combining to create this study will allow students to view the American Indian experience from a variety of perspectives.  

Course Information

None

By the end of the course students will be able to: 

• Identify important historic and contemporary themes relative to North America's Aboriginal people
• Discuss the development of these themes as they relate to current events in the United States 
• Understand the divergent experience of Native peoples in the United States 
• Understand the complex nature of the relationship among Native peoples, and with North American Governments 
• Interpret present day events in relation to their historical antecedents 
• Think critically about the historic and contemporary American Indian experience 

Web and E-Mail Proficiency:

This class is exclusively web-based.  Instruction in this course will take place via the World Wide Web page and accompanying Desire to Learn (D2L) course site dedicated to this course.  It is imperative that all students understand the course requirements from the beginning. You should note that the syllabus is full of helpful links--links to on-line material and course information and material is underlined and may appear differently on your browser.  Become familiar with the course web pages and requirements early and often.  

Students should be able to retrieve information via the World Wide Web.  Information regarding course assignments, study guides, assigned reading, and review material is made available via the WWW pages devoted to the course.  It is the student's responsibility to check the web pages devoted to this course often (at least daily) for important information.  

Duane Champagne, ed. Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues (rental).
Charles Wilkinson, Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations

Additional required readings, sound files, or other supplementary course information will be assigned and made available via UW-Whitewater's system of on-line content delivery Desire to Learn  (D2L) and on-line electronic journals.

Evaluation

Exams*: There will be three exams in this course--two mid-terms and a final. Both will have the same format, that being the form of a take-home written essay to be submitted on or by the due date to the D2L dropbox provided for each exam.  Consult the tentative reading schedule for a listing of exam dates.

*Exams must be submitted to the D2L dropbox by or on the date specified.

Participation: The ability to merely recite lectures or the prose in a history text is not education. Learning occurs best when ideas and interpretations are shared and discussed. Participation will occur in a number of ways in this course:

• Students will read and participate critically and interactively 

• Students will participate in the on-line components of the class and be prepared to discuss the assigned readings in the daily on-line forums

• Students will complete course content surveys, quizzes and questionnaires in class from time to time throughout the term.

Quizzes:  There will be a number of on-line quizzes.  The first quiz will test your general understanding of the course requirements.  The remaining quizzes will be based on the reading and discussion assigned during the period covered since the previous quiz.  Each quiz will be ten questions in length, you will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz and the window for taking each quiz will be available for 24 hours--the day in which it is assigned.  Once you begin a quiz you must finish it within the twenty minutes allowed.  I will not reset incomplete quizzes without written documentation of a problem from the campus D2L center (D2L-support@uww.edu).  Should you have trouble completing a quiz it is your responsibility to obtain and provide me with the necessary documentation of the problem from the D2L Help Center 

A note on class participation: You are expected to read and participate in this on-line class every day. This usually means taking part in the daily discussion and responding to the posts of others in a thoughtful and meaningful way.  In fact, your discussion participation is a significant way in which I will evaluate your understanding of the course material and general progress in this course.  Participation is not accomplished by packing in volumes of "me too," or "what she said" at the end of the discussion period.  Participation is on-going, meaningful and a regular, daily expectation of this three-week course.

Grading: The weight of assignments in the calculation of final grades is as follows:

Statement on Academic Integrity and Personal Responsibility

All students are expected to complete the required assignments, readings, and participate in the class discussion as prescribed in this syllabus.  It is further expected that work submitted for this class is the students’ own work created expressly for the assignments in this course.  All assignments are due on the due date. Exams must be delivered to the D2L dropbox on or before  the date specified. Late work will not be accepted.  

Important Note:  Plagiarism is a serious offense and all instances of it will be dealt with according to the  “Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures” [UWS Chapter 14] see below.   Students who submit plagiarized work, discussion submissions, or exam material, in whole or part, will receive a failing course grade in all instances    Plagiarism is generally defined as using the ideas of another as your own.  Plagiarism is not avoided by simply changing a few words or by paraphrasing the work of others.