AIS 501
Indigenous Critical Theory
Credit: 4 hours.
Explores the distinctive form of inquiry which critiques settler-colonial ideas and institutions at the interdisciplinary crossroads where American Indian and Indigenous Studies engages other theories including but not limited to feminist theory, critical race theory, semiotics and phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and the postcolonial theory (to name only some of the many possibilities). Graduate standing or consent of the instructor.
| CRN | Type | Section | Time | Days | Location | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53384 | lecture- discussion | C | 03:30 PM - 05:20 PM | R | room 135 English Bldg | Byrd, J |
| 4 hours Within postcolonial theory, scholars often draw distinctions between British formal colonial rule and settler colonialism, establishing the first as the normative process of economic and military domination and the second as a more humane and inevitable process. As a result, the pernicious colonizations of indigenous peoples within deep settler colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States often remain the dark unarticulated given even in theories of decolonial resistance arising from the global south. This class proposes a dialogue of sorts amongst theoretical traditions to interrogate settler colonial "postcolonialities" and the lingering colonialist discourses within postcolonial theory that deconstruct when confronted by indigenous presences. How do theories of colonialism and postcolonialism prioritize certain geographical and historical contexts and in what ways do those theories succeed or fail in addressing indigeneity? How might indigeneity challenge postcolonial theory and how might indigenous scholars reframe those theories to address the ongoing colonizations that continue to define their lands, rights, and sovereignty? Finally, how might the intersection between postcolonial and indigenous critical theories provide new sites for interdisciplinary methods and inquiry? MEETS with ENGL 581 | ||||||