UConn empowers people from different ethnic backgrounds and heritage to share their stories and express their cultural traditions. Of all the diverse ethnic groups, the Native and Indigenous heritage group is one of the fastest-growing on campus. Due to the growth, UConn has begun to offer specialized courses and minors to provide insight and knowledge to students about Native and Indigenous heritage. All of these offerings are available to every student to spread information and appreciation to the greater UConn populous.
The UConn Anthropology department offers several 3000-level courses around the topic, covering contemporary Native Americans, North American cultures, Pacific Island cultures, and Indigenous rights. Learning about these topics is important because it broadens and diversifies the horizons we view other people’s backgrounds. It creates an appreciation for the history that has led us to the current day. Through this education, UConn can become a more accepting and welcoming campus; when people are exposed to and educated about a topic, they are less likely to view them as different or strange.
It is also possible to earn a minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The class selection spans the Anthropology, Classics, English, History, and Political Science disciplines, and students must complete credits from at least three of those disciplines to receive the minor. In addition to this, a one-credit UNIV class is offered with the mission of creating a discussion for ways to make the community more Indigenous-friendly and to explore what it means to be Native or Indigenous.
To browse said courses, go to UConn Course Catalog.
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