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Indigenous Studies

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Indigenous Studies

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Double Major Minor

Develop awareness and a sense of social responsibility relating to Indigenous issues. Your access to traditional Elders and ceremonies, and your placements with Indigenous or supporting organizations will provide you with cultural and experiential knowledge about Indigenous lands, languages and cultures.

 

Program Information

Indigenous Studies at York is a unique program that combines an experiential emphasis on local Indigenous traditions, treaties and languages with the theoretical insights of Indigenous scholars. We also feature courses that enable students to explore Indigenous literatures, cinema and music, or to develop an awareness of interconnections with Indigenous peoples internationally as well as with the racialized communities situated on Indigenous lands across the Americas due to histories of slavery and indentureship.

Degree Information

Campus: Keele
Faculty:  Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
Degree:   Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Degree Options: Double Major, Minor, Single Major, Specialized
Experiential Education

Research / Other Activities

Honours Option

Yes

OUAC Code

YBM

Degree Overview

  • Why Indigenous Studies
  • Program Overview
  • Courses
  • Your Degree Pathway
  • Certificates Offered

Commitment to Excellence
Despite Canada's progressive reputation as a "multicultural" and democratic society, it maintains a colonial relationship with Indigenous peoples. This is at the root of the profound inequalities between Canadians and Indigenous Peoples as well as among Canadians. Our new and innovative Indigenous Studies (INDG) program challenges these colonial relationships by examining how they thrive in our everyday experiences and are continuously maintained and recreated by Canadian governments and institutions. .At the same time, students gain experiential knowledge of local Indigenous traditions and languages, engage with the knowledge of Elders, and are introduced to the theoretical work of Indigenous scholars addressing multiple issues relating to decolonization.

Address Critical Issues
Courses in the Indigenous Studies program address a range of critical issues including land claims and the struggles of residential school survivors, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Indigenous over-representation in the criminal justice system, critiques of the concept of reconciliation, and paths to justice and healing.

Choose Your Education Path
As an Indigenous studies major at York, you can choose a range of courses, including Indigenous literatures, cinema and music, Metis realities, Indigenous-Black relations, urban Native communities, Indigenous women, experiential education courses within Indigenous communities, and placements with Indigenous, environmental or other Indigenous support organizations.

Our Indigenous Studies program features core courses that address spirituality and language, engage with Indigenous methodologies and protocols, introduce Metis studies and focus on Indigenous Theory. As you work through these core courses, which are taken throughout your degree, you will be able to choose other courses that suit your interests and career goals, and broaden your knowledge of Indigenous cultures and perspectives.

Sample Courses:
INDG 1050 Introduction to Indigenous Studies
INDG 2050 Indigenous Spiritualities in the Contemporary World
INDG 2060 Treaties and the Indian Act
INDG 3050 Indigenous Protocols and Methodologies
INDG 3470 Black Indians and Native-Black Relations
INDG 4705 Indigenous Theory

Indigenous Studies degree pathway: This browser does not support PDFs. Please download the PDF to view it: Download PDF.
Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Indigenous Studies - Certificate Requirements

York University students may earn a Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Indigenous Studies in addition to fulfilling the requirements for an undergraduate degree. This certificate is open to students in all undergraduate Faculties.

To qualify for the Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Indigenous Studies, students must complete 24 credits from a list of approved courses, with a cumulative grade point average in these 24 credits of at least 5.00.

Students are expected to register their entry to the certificate program with the unit administering the program, normally prior to completion of 36 credits of their undergraduate degree program. This procedure is intended to help keep students abreast of program related events and to ensure that students complete the program requirements in a timely fashion. Students are also expected to submit an application to graduate from the program. Refer to the Academic Standards section for details of the undergraduate certificate minimum standards.

Click here for more information

Career Options

With an Indigenous Studies degree from York, you will be well prepared for exciting and meaningful careers in education, social services, social work, policy work, education, law, and a range of other positions with governments and Native organizations.

Careers:

Community Centre Director Cultural Consultant Indigenous Court Worker
Indigenous Issues Consultant Indigenous Historian Indigenous Women’s Rights Advocate
Guidance Counsellor Land Claims Researcher NGO Director
Policy Analyst UN Representative

Meet Our Students, Alumni and Professors

Fatima Qurban-Ali

Student, Multicultural and Indigenous Studies  

Dorothy Okoye

Alumna, Indigenous Studies '17  
Minoo Derayeh

Minoo Derayeh

Professor, Multicultural and Indigenous Studies  

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