History is typically told in few formats: American, European, Asian or world history. But professors and instructors at the University of Oregon want to make history told from the Native American perspective more prominent. Kirby Brown, CHiXapkaid Pavel, Brian Klopotek, Tom Ball and many more are set to teach classes from the ethnic studies department that come together to make a Native American Studies minor.
“It was first officially proposed in the fall of 2012 and approved by the University Curriculum Committee in spring of 2013,” Brown said.
According to Brown, it’s the first large Native American studies program that the University of Oregon has offered, which will help the University to join the ranks of other major colleges in states including California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and New York.
Classes in the minor cover topics such as history, anthropology, law and literature in an effort to educate students on Native American culture.
“We want people who take the minor to be well rounded and have a grounding in the three different areas,” said Klopotek, an associate professor of ethnic studies.
The three areas, or groups, as they’re known in the curriculum, are as follows: Group one consists of culture, language and education; group two is law, policy, governance, history; and group three is literature, media and the arts.
In order to complete the minor, a student must take 28 credits, 16 of which need to be upper division. Each student will be required to take an introductory class and at least one class from each group. Through this distribution of classes, the minor would encourage students to study native languages and work with Oregon Native tribes.
“Students do work that benefits the tribe which helps students to understand what it’s like working for a tribal community,” said Klopotek.
Faculty who worked to put the minor together worked closely with the Oregon tribes to not only give some insight to Native American culture, but to teach students about tribes close to home. By garnering an appreciation for Native American culture through hands on study and work, the teachers hope that students will delve further into Native American studies to help preserve the culture and languages.
The minor has a great amount of faculty support, and while its administrators anticipate that many students with Native American heritage will take the minor, there are students with other backgrounds who they also expect to take part.
The minor will be available to students starting in the fall.