Course Descriptions

IS 1020E: Introduction to Indigenous Studies
An interdisciplinary survey of Indigenous issues, from academic and community perspectives including indigenous knowledge, historical background, oral history, socio-political context, arts, language and culture. Specific practical examples will be explored by researchers and community members actually engaged in their contemporary documentation and resolution.
Instructor: Renee Bedard
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2000A: Beyond Acknowledgements
Land acknowledgements often frame both the historic and ongoing presence of Indigenous peoples on their land, sometimes with limited context. This course moves beyond acknowledgements to explore topics related to Indigenous realities in Southern Ontario on matters of language and culture, health, wellness, and environment, and policy and governance.
Instructor: Rick Fehr
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2218G: Contemporary Indigenous Issue
This course explores the critical challenges still faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. The material covered will be timely and relevant, including: legal and political mobilization; jurisdictional authority and self-determination; land rights and treaty relationships; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry. 
Instructor: Vanessa Ambtman-Smith
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2253A: Endanger Languages & Revitalization
This course focuses on endangered languages and the local and global factors affecting language vitality and revival. Practical strategies for sustaining and reviving languages, including language documentation and revitalization, will be addressed with examples coming from various areas of the world and special focus on Indigenous languages of the Americas. Antirequisite(s): Anthropology 2253A/B. Extra Information: 3 hours per week, cross-listed with Anthropology 2253A/B.
Instructor: T. Granadillo
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2412F: Indigenous Healthcare Spaces
This course explores historic and conceptual foundations for understanding contemporary Indigenous health through the lens of colonial disruption and dispossession, situating health and healthcare environments as important places of reconciliation. The focus will centre on examining spaces of Indigenous health practice and policy grounded in decolonizing, critical theory. Antirequisite(s): Geography 2412F/G, Indigenous Studies 2251F/G if taken in Winter 2024. Extra Information: 3 lecture hours. Cross-listed with Geography 2412F/G.
Instructor: Vanessa Ambtman Smith
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2601G: Indigenous Environments
The consequences of physical environmental change for Indigenous communities around the globe will be examined in relation to the processes of colonialism and environmental dispossession. Topics include: identity, culture, local economies, social functioning, food security and health. Cross-listed with Geography 2411F/G.
Instructor: Chantelle Richmond
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2676A: Land, Art, Place l
For Haudenosaunee the landscape is an animate, living and embodied archive with which we are all interconnected. This studio-based course involves community engagement learning where students will create site-specific artworks that explore our (inter)relationships with the living archive of ‘place’, while inspired by the rich cultural histories of this territory. Antirequisite(s): Studio Art 2676A/B. Extra Information: 6 studio hours, lecture, blended or online format. Priority will be given to students registered in Indigenous Studies. Cross-listed with Studio Art 2676A/B.
Instructor: J. Leween
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2682G: Indigenous Women's Art
This course examines traditional and contemporary artforms created and performed by Indigenous women. Art as an expression of Indigenous women’s social, political, and spiritual realities is studied through readings, lectures, and artistic assignments. This course also considers Indigenous analyses, varied artistic styles, forms, and mediums, from Indigenous women across Canada. Cross-listed with GSWS 2291F/G and Art History 2634F/G.
Instructor: Renee Bedard
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2807F: Indigenous Feminisms
Students explore Indigenous feminist frameworks and epistemologies to understand the participation of Indigenous women in social, political, and environmental movements. This course examines issues relating to the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous women feminists nationally and internationally. This course also considers Indigenous feminist analyses and Indigenous women’s issues.Cross-listed with GSWS 2290F/G.
Instructor: Lina Sunseri
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 2919F: Haudenosaunee History Culture
An examination of the culture and history of the Haudenosaunee Peoples through the use of a combination of primary sources and secondary sources drawn from both Indigenous and non Indigenous traditions and scholarship
Instructor: Lina Sunseri
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 3001G: Special Topics in Indigenous Studies
Special topics of current interest in the Indigenous Studies. List of special topics may be available in the Program office. Extra Information: 3 lecture/seminar hours.
Instructor:
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 3140F: Indigenous Knowledge and Traditions
Indigenous knowledge, as a distinctive field of study, is emerging as an important tool in the movement toward self determination and empowerment. This course will examine Indigenous beliefs, ways of knowing, and worldviews to understand their differences and similarities, while exploring contemporary expressions through a variety of sources and interpretations.
Instructor: Lewis Williams
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 3600G: Climate, Culture, & Indigenous Geographies
This course offers an introduction to the interrelated dynamics of climate crisis and colonialism. The influence of geographies of epistemology, culture, place and power on climate change impacts, strategies, and outcomes is explored. Adopting an anti-colonialist framework and emphasizing inclusive Indigenous Kinship approaches the course moves from theory to action. Cross-listed with Geography 3413F/G.
Instructor: Lewis Williams
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 3722G: Indigenous Political & Legal Issues
Political and legal issues are inseparable in contemporary examinations of land use, self-determination, governance, individual and community rights. This course will examine the legal institutions and practices of traditional Indigenous cultures as well as contemporary practice. Antirequisite(s): Political Science 3398F/G, Political Science 3410F/G
Instructor: Rick Fehr
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 4001G: Advance Special Topics Indigenous Studies
Special topics of current interest in Indigenous Studies. List of special topics may be available from the Indigenous Studies office. Extra Information: 3 seminar/lecture hours.
Instructor: Lina Sunseri
Course Outline: 2025-26

IS 4023F: Research in Indigenous Studies
This is an advanced community-based experiential course that combines in-class discussions with community-based research. Students will train in methodologies and ethics of working with Indigenous communities. Areas of research may include but not limited to ecological restoration, land claims, self-government, education, health and wellness and urban issues. Antirequisite(s): Earth Sciences 3023F/G, Geography 3001F/G. Extra Information: 2 lecture hours.
Instructor: Desmond Moser
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 4024A: Community-Based Praxis
This field course provides students with practical experience working in a local First Nations community on a collaborative project. Centering Indigenous ways of knowing, a major focus is on understanding intersecting cultural, political, ecological, social, and economic factors that shape community life. Topics include Indigenous governance, treaties, and political ecologies. Antirequisite(s): Geography 3002A/B. Extra Information: Bi-weekly 3-hour lecture, bi-weekly 3-hour outdoor tutorial. Cross-listed with Geography 3002A/B.
Instructor: Cortney Golkar-Dakin (S. Awasis)
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 4142F: Decolonizing Relations
This course explores decolonial theory and praxis as a conceptual foundation to building relationship with the land and confronting entrenched colonial power relations. The course considers decoloniality through Black, Indigenous, and queer land-based practices and movements that focus on a transformational re-centering of noncolonial ways of knowing, being, and doing
Instructor: Cortney Golkar-Dakin (S. Awasis)
Course Outline 2025-26

IS 4903G: Indigenous Research and Methodologies
This advanced course examines the critical issues and tensions of doing research with and for Indigenous peoples.. Themes will include Indigenous methodologies (including but not limited to oral histories), and decolonizing research. Cross-listed with Anthropology 4405F/G.
Instructor: Lewis Williams
Course Outline 2025-26

Common Information