Human Rights and Spiritual Ecologies of Indigenous Peoples
RELI 316
Spring 2024
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ENVS 328, AMST 317 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Disability Studies, Health Studies |
This seminar will explore the social, legal, and metaphysical aspects of indigenous spiritual ecologies and their relation to United Nations discourses, indigenous community media production, and land rights movements. We will consider how indigenous peoples both respond to legal frameworks and press their positions into national and international human rights standards, on issues ranging from governance to cultural survival, from environmental management to language policy.
A particular emphasis will be put on the Andean and Amazonian regions of South America, the Mesoamerican highlands (Chiapas, Guatemala), the United States, and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, but students are encouraged to pursue their research projects across Abya Yala (the Americas).
This course focuses on developing critical thinking skills and places a special emphasis on writing and thoughtfully responding to the materials presented in class. Classes will not only consist of framework lectures and discussion questions, but also a combination of student panel presentations and writing in a collaborative environment. Participation in these activities is crucial to success in this course. Opportunities for student engagement in Manhattan at the April 2024 United Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are currently in development. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(HRAD-MN)(RELI-MN)(RELI) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Deloria, Jr. Vine. 1973. GOD IS RED.
Gómez- Barris, Macarena. 2017. THE EXTRACTIVE ZONE: SOCIAL ECOLOGIES AND DECOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES. Duke University.
Cavagnaro, Kellie. 2014. MAYA SPIRITUAL PRAXIS IN THE NEW BAKTUN: RITUAL AND RECLAMATION IN CHIAPAS. Wake Forest University.
Minor readings will include, among others:
https://muscarelle.wm.edu/rising/alcatraz/proclamation/
Kauanui, J. Kehaulani. "Patrick Wolfe on Settler Colonialism (Interview)." In SPEAKING OF INDIGENOUS POLITICS: CONVERSATIONS WITH ACTIVISTS, SCHOLARS, AND TRIBAL LEADERS, 2018.
Muehlebach, Andrea. "'Making Place' at the United Nations: Indigenous Cultural Politics at the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations."
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. STATE OF THE WORLD¿S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. New York: United Nations, 2009, p. 1¿10. http://bit.ly/SOWIP2009
Schenberb and Gerber, 2022. "Overcoming epistemic injustices in the biomedical study of ayahuasca: Towards ethical and sustainable regulation." Transcultural Psychology, 59
Smith, Paul Chaat, & Robert Allen Warrior. LIKE A HURRICANE: THE INDIAN MOVEMENT FROM ALCATRAZ TO WOUNDED KNEE. New Press 1996. Ch 7: The American Indian Movement.
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Examinations and Assignments:
three brief response papers related to major course readings and case studies
one paired discussion panel/presentation (=midterm);
one final project, written or audio, based on a semester-long case study of one indigenous group and their spiritual practices/ ongoing social justice activism.
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the "Thematic Approach" requirement for the Religion major. |
| Instructor(s): Cavagnaro,Kellie Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: BOGH110; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 5 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 4 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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