Native American and Indigenous Studies, Minor - COLA, UNH

Undergraduate

Native American and Indigenous Studies

Explore the complex histories, traditions and contemporary issues of Indigenous communities while connecting theory to real-world applications.
2026
Degree
Minor
Location
Durham, NH
Courses
5
Credit
20 hrs.
Full-time
- -
Part-time
- -
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New Hampshire Humanities Collective

The Native American and Indigenous Studies minor at UNH offers a transformative educational experience with crucial cultural understanding and practical skills that enrich any major. Here you'll be able to explore the complex histories, traditions and contemporary issues of Indigenous communities while connecting theory to real-world applications. 

UNH is located on traditional Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki lands and this interdisciplinary program offers unique opportunities to engage with local Indigenous communities through internships, fieldwork and collaborative research projects. Whether you're majoring in business, healthcare, education or environmental science, this minor equips you with valuable cross-cultural competencies and ethical perspectives essential for working effectively with Indigenous communities and institutions in an increasingly interconnected world. 

New Hampshire Humanities Collective

Key Links

Tuition Costs

Contact Cards

Alexandra (Alix) Martin
Adjunct Faculty
Alexandra.Martin@unh.edu
Huddleston Hall, Room 338, Durham, NH 03824
(603) 358-7041

What is Native American and Indigenous studies?

Learn about the complex and different cultures and histories of Indigenous communities locally, nationally and globally. This interdisciplinary program draws from a range of fields, from anthropology and geography to English and history, to provide varied perspectives on issues such as colonialism, diaspora, social movements, politics and policy. You’ll learn academic theories and how they translate into practical applications. You’ll acquire skills and qualifications for graduate study and employment including work with Tribal and Indigenous leaders and officials, public health practitioners and administrators, and with institutions that require sensitivity to Indigenous issues, such as museums and other public institutions.

Why study Native American and Indigenous studies at UNH?

UNH is located on the traditional lands and waterways of the Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples, past and present, who have ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the area. UNH faculty in the Native American and Indigenous studies program are actively engaged in ongoing efforts to build an enduring relationship between the university and local Indigenous communities in New Hampshire, the United States and elsewhere in the world. Related opportunities for internships, field work and independent research are plentiful, including work with the Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective and through the many available UNH study abroad programs.

Potential career areas

  • Arts
  • Business
  • Education
  • Federal agencies and services
  • Government and law
  • Healthcare
  • Museums
  • Nonprofits and advocacy
  • Sciences

Curriculum & Requirements

01
Program Description
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As an interdisciplinary minor, Native American and Indigenous studies (NAIS) offers a broad understanding of the history, lands, culture, literature, language and artistic expression, science and technology, race and identity, and social organization and political statuses of Native American and Indigenous peoples within and beyond North America. The minor provides an introduction to Indigenous values and a basis for understanding broad Indigenous issues.

NAIS complements a range of majors, including anthropology, English, history, political science, health and human services, music, psychology, biology, botany, natural resources and sustainability. The UNH Education Abroad program offers a variety of opportunities to UNH students to explore the NAIS minor overseas.  

The minor will help students acquire the necessary skills and qualifications for a variety of graduate study and employment opportunities and enhance competitiveness for federal scholarships and programs, such as the Peace Corps, Teach for America or the National Parks Service. Students with NAIS training will be prepared for work with Tribal and Indigenous leaders and officials, public health practitioners and administrators, and/or working with institutions that require employees with cultural and historical sensitivity to Indigenous issues, such as museums or other public institutions. NAIS graduates may also go on to careers with organizations with Indigenous interests in the areas of education, business, arts, government and law, nonprofit and advocacy, and healthcare and science (e.g., the Native American Rights Fund, Native American Arts Council, American Indian Science and Engineering Society).

02
Requirements for the Program
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Requirements
NAIS 400Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies 14
Select one of the following options:16
Option A:
Select four elective courses from the approved list below
Option B:
Select three elective courses from the approved list below 2
Select one independent study or credit-bearing internship (HIST 695 or ANTH 700 or other option approved by coordinator)
Total Credits20
1

Also fulfills World Cultures Discovery requirement

2

Two courses can be from a UNH-approved education abroad program (see below).

Approved Electives
AMST 444CPicturing America: The Arts & Social Change4
ANTH 412Broken Pots and Buried Cities: Introduction to World Archaeology4
ANTH 500Peoples and Cultures of the World (A: North America and B: Latin America)4
ANTH 501World Archaeological Cultures (A: North America B: Mesoamerica)4
ANTH 513Ethnographic Methods4
ANTH 514Method and Theory in Archaeology4
ANTH 620Ritual and Religion of Ancient Mesoamerica4
ANTH 785The Anthropology of Dreams and Dreaming4
BIOL 408Plants and Civilization4
ENGL 440AHonors/On Race in Culture and Society4
ENGL 550Introduction to the Literature and Culture of Race4
HIST 405History of Early America4
HIST 511History of New Hampshire4
HIST 532Modern Latin America4
HIST 595Explorations (on an approved topic)1-4
HIST 600Explorations (on an approved topic)4
HIST 603European Conquest of North America4
HIST 632Latin American History: Topics4
MARI 705Introduction to Marine Policy: Understanding US Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes Policy3
MUSI 515Music in World Cultures4
NR 660Ecology and Biogeography of New Zealand5
NR 795Investigations (on an approved topic)1-4
OUT 515History of Outdoor Pursuits in North America4
PSYC 581Child Development4
PSYC 791WSpecial Topics (on an approved topic)4
SPAN 526Introduction to Latin American Cultures4
WGS 505Survey in Women's Studies (on an approved topic)4

NAIS UNH-Approved Study Abroad Programs

Thailand-TEAN-Chang Mai; CIEE Khon Kaeo

USAC-Southwest Minzu University (Southwest Universities for Nationalities). Among the courses offered:

  • Buddhism and Culture (ANTH/SOC)
  • Tibetan Culture and Society (ANTH/SOC
  • Guizhou Field Study (ANTH/WLL, 200-level, l credit)

Morocco - IES & CIEE. Courses offered:

  • Gender and Society in North Africa and Beyond
  • North African Cultural Identities
  • Internship/Social Action Seminar
  • Islam In Morocco And North Africa (English-taught)
  • Arab Media and Issues of Politics and Culture

New Zealand - Otago. Courses offered:

  • Maori Studies

Peru - SIT: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization. Courses offered:

  • History of Indigenous Cultures in Peru
  • Indigenous Peoples in Motion: Changes, Resistance, and Globalization
  • Quechua
  • Research Methods and Ethics
  • Independent Study Project

Senegal -CIEE. Courses offered:

  • Contemporary Senegalese Society and Culture
  • Intercultural Communication and Leadership (English)
  • Environment and Development in Senegal and Sub-Saharan Africa (English)
  • Public Health Issues and Challenges in West Africa

Tanzania-CIEE. Courses offered:

  • Kiswahili
  • Field Research Seminar
  • Pre-History, Myths, Legends, and Beliefs of East Africa
  • Contemporary Educational Issues in East Africa
  • Gender and Development
  • History of East Africa
  • Poverty Analysis for Socio-economic Development

Bhutan -API at Royal Thimphu College with internship. Courses offered:

  • Anthropology of the Himalayas
  • Ethnography of Bhutan
  • Anthropology of Identity
  • Anthropology of Gender
  • Kinship and Family
  • ASC201: Anthropology of Globalization
  • ASC301: Anthropology of Development
  • ASC303: Applied Anthropology
  • ASC304: Contemporary Issues in Anthropology
  • ATH101: Ecological Anthropology
  • ATH102: Medical Anthropology
  • ATH203: History and Theory of Anthropology
  • ATH204: Political Anthropology
  • ATH305: Anthropology of Religion and Rituals

Program Details

01
About NAIS 400, Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
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NAIS 400 is the one required course for UNH’s interdisciplinary minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS). This course is a great opportunity to get an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), by exploring various Indigenous experiences and heritage. This course cultivates a broad understanding of the history, lands, culture, literature, language and artistic expression, science and technology, race and identity, and social organization and political statuses of Native American and Indigenous peoples, emphasizing Native peoples’ self-determination, sovereignty and survivance. Students will learn about significant events and issues from Indigenous perspectives and develop new ways of thinking about Native peoples. 

Course units include Indigenous Identities, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Surviving and Survivance, Tribal Justice, Museums and Media, and Indigenous New Hampshire. These units build on one another to expose students to different approaches to Native American and Indigenous studies, including readings and materials from fields of anthropology, literature, museum studies, science, law, geography, math and sustainability. The syllabus emphasizes the work of Indigenous scholars and thinkers, including Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw), Eva Marie Garroutte (Cherokee), Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Porou), Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Muscogee) and Krystal Tsosie (Diné). 

Assignments include Current Events presentations; a Mythbuster writing assignment that breaks down stereotypes and misconceptions; an Advocacy assignment that challenges students to address a modern issue of Tribal Justice; discussion groups of the novel "The Round House" by Louise Erdrich (Chippewa); a Critical Media Review of a recent novel, movie or museum exhibit; and a final project related to the Indigenous history and culture of New Hampshire.

We are looking forward to having you in the class! 

02
Affiliate Faculty
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  • Anne Jennison is a traditional storyteller with European and Abenaki heritage who holds Master's degrees in History and Storytelling. She is on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Traditional Artists Roster and currently serves on the NH Commission of Native American Affairs. Anne is a co-creator of the "People of the Dawnland" exhibit at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, and is a member of the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective.
  • Denise K. Pouliot is the Sag8moskwa (Female Head Speaker) of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People and traditional artist. She currently serves on the NH Commission on Native American Affairs, is a Federal Religious Advisor, and is a founding member of the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective. Denise is also the treasurer for COWASS North America and the Abenaki Nation of Vermont.
  • Paul W. Pouliot has been the Sag8mo or Chief Speaker for the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People and president of COWASS North America and the Abenaki Nation of Vermont since 1990. Paul is an Indigenous historian, lecturer, Federal Religious Advisor, and a founding member of the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective. He is also a founding member of the NH Commission on Native American Affairs.
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Study Abroad and National Student Exchange
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The UNH Education Abroad program offers a variety of opportunities to UNH students to explore the NAIS minor overseas.

The National Student Exchange (NSE) program offers exchanges at institutions that are currently involved in cutting-edge research and teaching:

  • Native Alaska Studies is available at three campuses of the University of Alaska system (Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau)
  • Native American, First Nations or Indigenous Studies majors and courses are available at 35 NSE campuses, including Montana State University, University of Calgary, University of Minnesota Morris, University of New Mexico, University of Oklahoma and University of Ottawa.
  • NSE member campuses offer courses in the following languages: Abenaki, Chickasaw, Dakota, and Lakota.
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Additional Links
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