Program Overview

Program Overview

The Indigenous Studies program at Carleton University is a diverse and comprehensive field of study that centers Indigenous worldviews in research, teaching, and mentoring. This program is unified by its commitment to Indigenous resurgence and ways of knowing, community-engaged learning, and dissection of colonial power and politics.

Program Details

The program explores questions such as how the land, Indigenous languages, and kinship shape human and more-than-human relations, and how Indigenous peoples are fighting the climate crisis. Students will pursue these questions and more as they delve into the complexities of Indigenous Studies.

Curriculum

The curriculum is diverse and comprehensive, covering topics such as:

• Indigenous feminisms, genders, and sexualities
• Ecological ways of knowing
• Indigenous urbanisms
• Indigenous legal orders
• Historical and contemporary Indigenous political struggles
• Indigenous arts and culture
• Indigenous languages and their relationships to the land
• Global Indigeneity

The faculty consists of elders, knowledge keepers, and community members with a track record of contributing to Indigenous knowledge development.

Career Outcomes

Graduates of the Indigenous Studies program will be well-positioned to work in a wide variety of workplaces impacted by developments in Indigenous cultural and political resurgence. Sample careers include:

• Advocacy
• Community Sector
• Creative Industries
• Journalism
• Law
• Museum and archival work
• Public Service
• Teaching

Sample Courses

• INDG 1000 - Introduction to Indigenous Studies: A survey of historical and contemporary issues relating to Indigenous peoples in Canada, approached from an interdisciplinary perspective.
• INDG 3015 - Indigenous Cosmologies: An overview of diverse Indigenous cosmologies and perspectives on land, water, atmospheres, and more-than-human beings, and ethical ways of working with these knowledges.

Work Experience

A practicum option exists for students to apply their knowledge with a local organization whose mandate involves working with and/or for Indigenous peoples.

Location Advantage

The program's unique location in Ottawa provides an important source of stimulus and support for both faculty and students interested in Indigenous Studies.