Contested Histories and Landscapes: Western and Indigenous Perceptions of Time and Place

How we conceive of time and place influences the stories we tell about the past, how we form identities in the present, and how we plan for the future in the face of environmental threats like global climate change. The archaeological study of North American Indigenous history has been dominated by Western philosophical thought that takes for granted a particular view of the world, and of being, espoused by the likes of Socrates, Hobbes, Descartes, and Rousseau. Indigenous scholars have critiqued these biases and asked that we recognize ways of perceiving the world that are often fundamentally different than the Euro-American frame of reference.Using archaeological case studies in addition to reading Native American philosophers and intellectuals, we will explore how different ways of understanding the world, and your place in it, influence how we explain the past. We will also consider how these differences play out today regarding issues such as environmental justice, land treaties, tribal sovereignty, and climate change.
Course Attributes: BU Eth; BU BA; AS SSC; FA SSC; AR SSC; AS SC; EN S

Contested Histories and Landscapes: Western and Indigenous Perceptions of Time and Place

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 3464

Section 01