Spring 2026 Course Offerings
For a complete list of courses and course descriptions, please see the University Catalog. If you have further questions, please contact the department at 207.581.1417.
NAS 101 0001-LEC 44593, Intro to Native American Studies, TTH 11:00am-12:15pm, Barrows Hall 119, 3cr.
Max Enrollment: 50, Instructor: Anthony Sutton
Course Description: This course will survey American Indian social, philosophical and cultural aspects in historical and contemporary society. It examines the issues and experiences of Native people from a variety of perspectives. Satisfies the General Education Social Contexts & Institutions and Cultural Diversity & International Perspectives requirements. Prerequisites: None
NAS 101 0190-LEC 44594, Introduction to Native American Studies, Web-Online, 3cr.
Max Enrollment: 60, Instructor: Lisa Neuman
Course Description: This course will survey American Indian social, philosophical and cultural aspects in historical and contemporary society. It examines the issues and experiences of Native people from a variety of perspectives. Satisfies the General Education Social Contexts & Institutions and Cultural Diversity & International Perspectives requirements. Prerequisites: None
NAS 102 0001-LEC 44621, Intro to Wabanaki Culture/History/Issues, T 4:00-6:50pm, Boardman Hall 210, 3 cr.
Max Enrollment: 50, Instructor: John Bear Mitchell
Course Description: This course provides an overview of the tribes that make up the Wabanaki Confederacy: the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy, the Maliseet and the Micmac. It will provide a survey of the individual tribes’ historic, cultures, philosophic, and creation stories, as well as a brief overview of Canadian, U.S., and Maine Indian history. This course will discuss and explore current issues and concerns as well as critical concepts such as sovereignty, treaty rights, and tribal government.
NAS 203 0001-LEC 46118, Wabanaki Language II, TH 5:00-7:50pm, Boudreau Hall 119, 3cr.
Max Enrollment: 25, Instructor: Roger Paul
Course Description: Wabanaki Languages 2 is intended for students that have finished level 1 or those who have a knowledge of Wabanaki vocabulary. This class will focus on short interactions and sentence structure. Students will be introduced to the Passamaquoddy-Wolastoqey writing system and will create sentences to present and discuss in class. Manipulation of verb phrases and some morphology will help students read and comprehend Wabanaki sentences. Students will be able to prepare and deliver a short presentation to the class in a Wabanaki Language
NAS 230 0001-LEC 45965/HTY 222 0001-LEC 45964, ME Indian History 20th Century, MWF 11:00-11:50am, Stevens Hall 370
Max Enrollment: 10, Instructor: Micah Pawling
Course Description: Too often Native people are relegated to the distant past, leading society to have misunderstandings about indigenous communities today. This course introduces students to Wabanaki history of Maine and eastern Canada in the twentieth century. The term Wabanaki is all-inclusive term that refers primarily to the Mi’kmaqs, Maliseets, Passamaquoddies, and Penobscots, along with other Abenaki groups. The tribal homeland encompasses present-day northern New England, the Maritime provinces, and southern Quebec. We will explore the variety of ways Wabanaki experiences deviated from the national narrative on American Indians and examine when Native challenges were in lockstep with western tribes in the twentieth century. The course considers the interplay between cultural traditions and modernity. The regional scope highlights local developments. We will investigate prominent themes of resistance, accommodation, activism, sovereignty, water, and cultural survival. Wabanaki people were positive actors in their own affairs, not passive pawns subdued by forces beyond their control. The course will provide context to contemporary challenges Wabanaki people confront. As one tribal historian astutely noted, “I can never give up hope, like my ancestors never gave up hope.” This course satisfies these General Education requirements: Cultural Diversity and International Perspectives; Population and the Environment.
NAS 240 0001-LEC 46359, Engaging Foodways, TTH 9:30-10:45am, Barrows Hall 125, 3cr.
Max Enrollment: 20, Instructor: Anthony Sutton
Course Description: The ways we think about and engage with food daily have already been and continue to be shaped by social, cultural, and political influences. Family food traditions and storytelling can help us understand histories and culture around food and how that leads to different values that become supported or not through food infrastructure. Food infrastructure and policies designed to support it, can also be places to critically engage with how these structures create issues of equity and injustice within food systems and what communities are doing to change those issues. This course provides several ways of engaging with topics around food, whether students are interested in how culture and identity becomes produced and reproduced through food or ways to restore or reimagine food systems, both require developing specific skill sets to support these ways of thinking.
NAS 298 0001-IND, 44893, Directed Study in Native American Studies
Max Enrollment: 10, Instructor: Darren Ranco
Course Description: Individual study, research, field experience and writing projects in Native American Studies. May be repeated for credit. Arranged upon request. Prerequisite: NAS 101 and permission
NAS 401 0001-LEC, 44685/ANT 430 0001-LEC 45784, Who Owns Native Cultures, MW 2:00-3:15pm, Williams Hall 219, 3cr.
Max Combined Enrollment: 40, Instructor: Darren Ranco
Course Description: The answer to the simple question of who owns Native American / American Indian / indigenous cultures and cultural productions is surprisingly complex and engages the history of anthropology and the nature of anthropological knowledge itself. Course examines the evolving relationships between anthropologists, historians, and other researchers with indigenous peoples (in particular American Indians) and what kinds of ethical and legal relationships have evolved over time to address this question. Also looks at the ways in which contemporary cultural resource management by indigenous peoples serves as a key articulation of indigenous nationhood and sovereignty. Special attention is given to recent scholarship by indigenous researchers that decolonizes standard academic practices and roots the ownership of Native cultures and research in Native communities.
NAS 401 0002-LEC, 44686, Teaching Wabanaki Studies, TTH 11:00am-12:15pm, Williams Hall 202, 3cr.
Max Combined Enrollment: 25, Instructor: John Bear Mitchell
Course Description: An introduction from an educational approach that will focus on Maine Indians, both past and present along with social organizations, political experiences, and teaching/learning that is embedded within the fabric of Maine Indian learning modalities. This course is a survey of current elementary, middle school, and high school social studies, literature, and math teaching programs with an emphasis on the integration of theory and practice.
NAS 498 0001-IND 44894, Directed Study in Native American Studies
Max Enrollment: 10, Instructor: Darren Ranco
Course Description: Advanced individual study, research, field experiences and writing projects in Native American Studies. May be repeated for credit. Arranged upon request. Department Consent Required. Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing and NAS 101 and one additional course within the Native American Studies minor and permission.
For questions or permission, please contact: Native American Programs office at 207.581.1417 or email Jen Bowen at jennifer.bowen@maine.edu