Academic Program
The curriculum, degree requirements and special activities are designed around four organizing principles:
1. EMPHASIS ON TRADITION AND CHANGE IN ALASKA NATIVE LIFE
The study of Native histories and cultural traditions is related directly to developing our understandings of the changing world of Native people. There is no single, monolithic Native culture or history. Rather, there is a plurality of cultures, languages, and histories with important differences among them. This principle suggests an Alaska Native context for the study of cultural differences, cross-cultural patterns of communication (and miscommunication), cultural identity, and majority-minority relationships.
2. EMPHASIS ON ISSUES OF ALASKA NATIVE POLITICS
This emphasis includes the study of Federal Indian law and its application to issues of Alaska Native politics and the exercise of self-government as governments within and without Indian country. It is also important to initiate a comparative study of law and policy affecting indigenous peoples generally.
3. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ALASKA NATIVE HUMANITIES IN A CHANGING WORLD
The program provides a range of academic experiences related directly to the documentation and expression of Native heritages. This includes the study of oral and written Native literature and provides opportunities for student cultural expression through the creative arts such as dance, music, and the visual arts. Humanistic expression is placed in a contemporary context that acknowledges the mediation and negotiations between various experience and traditions. Special attention is given to the powerful role of Elders as teachers of past and present Native life.
4. EMPHASIZING ALASKA NATIVE LANGUAGES AS A CRITICAL ASPECT OF LEARNING FROM ALASKA'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Such an emphasis expects an enrichment of conceptual understandings of Alaska Native languages. There are some concepts that can not be adequately translated into English, and thus call for greater attention to the ideas as expressed in their original format.
BACCALAUREATE DEGREE IN ALASKA NATIVE STUDIES
The Alaska Native Studies (ANS) Department offers courses that lead to baccalaureate degree in ANS. The program is also designed so that students may take ANS as a second major or minor. The Department seeks students from many fields of specialization who anticipate either direct or indirect professional involvement in Alaska Native communities specifically and in multicultural settings generally. The Department also offers a degree emphasis in the study and teaching of Alaska Native languages.
In recent years, many ANS majors have gone on to develop positions in law, public policy, corporation relations, and the humanities.
Degree requirements are listed in the UAF catalog.
MASTER OF ARTS IN CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES
The Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural Studies with an emphasis on indigenous knowledge systems is designed to provide graduate students from various fields of interest an opportunity to pursue in-depth study of the role and contributions of indigenous knowledge in the contemporary world. Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to work effectively with indigenous people in their studies.