PROGRAM MODIFICATION FORM (4/15) Please attach/ submit additional documents as needed to fully complete each section of the form. I. DEPARTMENT / PROGRAM Native
American Studies
II. SUMMARY We
are moving two of our existing courses from our list of NASX electives up to our list of core required
courses for the major (no changes are being made to our minor requirements). NASX340: Native American
Literature will become a required core course. NASX260: Sustainable Indigenous Community
Development
will be added to the existing "One of the following" bundle that currently includes the two
options of NASX306: Contemporary Global Issues of Indigenous Peoples and NASX475: Tribal
Sovereignty.
In other words, our majors must take NASX340 and must take any one of the following three
classes:
NASX260, NASX306, or NASX475. The net effect will be that our required core courses will now
be a larger portion of the overall required credits for the major, but the overall credits required will remain at
the
current number of 39. The number of "required core course" credits will be increase from 30 to 33 while
the number of NASX "elective" credits required will be reduced from 9 to 6.
III. ENDORSEMENTS AND APPROVALS Wade Davies
Requestor: Signature _______________________ Date____________ xxxPhone / Email: 243-5835 wade.davies@mso.umt.edu
Program Chair: Signature _______________________ Date____________ Wade Davies, co-chair
*Other Affected Programs: Signature _______________________ Date____________ Signature _______________________ Date____________ Dean: Signature _______________________ Date____________ * Are affected because: (a) required courses incl. prerequisites or corequisites, (b) perceived overlap in content areas, or (c) cross‐listing of coursework IV. TYPE OF PROGRAM MODIFICATION ✔
Major Minor Other, Please describe: Option Teaching major / minor V. CATALOG LANGUAGE Attach the current catalog language with the proposed changes clearly identified. VI. JUSTIFICATION It has been a few years since we last modified our requirements for the major, and so we are moving the
two classes (NASX340 and NASX260) up from our list of electives to our list of required core courses to
better
reflect our core values and strengths as a department. We do not, however, wish to change the
overall credits required of our students to complete the major, and so have opted to place the NASX260
into an existing "one of the following" bundle.
Our justification for moving the NASX340 up to the list of required core courses is as follows: This course
provides extended study into Native American literature which builds upon the knowledge and skills our
students currently gain from taking our required NASX235: Oral and Written Traditions of Native
Americans
course. With a focus on the Native American Renaissance, the course offers an upper-division
survey of contemporary writing. The study of literature is a key field within Native American Studies that
deserves
greater emphasis in our major. This change also reflects one of our primary strengths as a
faculty now that we have added a second tenure track faculty member who is expert in this area.
Furthermore,
as an upper-division writing course, we deem it to be important both within the major and as
part of our larger commitment to serving the GenEd needs of a broader student population.
Our justification for moving the NASX260 up to the list of required core courses is as follows: Sustainable
community
development, or community capacity building, is at the conceptual forefront of modern efforts to
revitalize American Indian communities. In our last program review, the outside evaluator also suggested
that
we strengthen our connections with Native communities through offering courses such as this. In this
course students learn why Native communities across North America have become underdeveloped, and
how
some of those communities have coped with that by creating successful economic, political, social
and cultural programs to serve community needs. A majority of our majors either work in or with American
Indian
communities at some point after they graduate. This course provides them with a knowledge base
that can increase the probability that they will do so effectively. We are including it within a bundle of three
courses,
of which students must choose one, that all focus on major contemporary needs and challenges
in Indian country. Even though this course is set at the lower-division level, we consider it to be a suitable
alternative
to taking either of the other two courses in this bundle (NASX306 and NASX475) so long as the
students complete the required number of upper-division classes in NAS. Please note that with the
addition
of NASX340 as a newly required core class, our students will still be required to take the same
number of upper-division classes in NAS as they do now even if they opt for NASX260 within this bundle.
VII. SUBMISSION After all signatures have been obtained, submit original, and an electronic file to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221. An electronic copy of the original signed form is acceptable.