INQ-110 | First Contact

Full Title: First Contact: Native Americans and Europeans

Topic Description:

For millennia before Europeans arrived, a variety of Native American cultures flourished in North America. This course examines how these cultures changed under the impact of European civilization, a process that lasted for several centuries. Every aspect of the lives of natives was disrupted—their subsistence livelihood, their political organizations, their religious practices, and their connections to specific places—and the impact of these changes is still visible today. To fully appreciate this complex dynamic, it is necessary to explore the rich diversity of traditions that existed before first contact. We will seek to understand how native societies adapted economically, politically, and religiously through assimilation, accommodation, and resistance. We will then go on to focus this inquiry around specific religious movements that arose in response. Our course will answer three related questions: who were Native Americans before Europeans arrived, how were they affected by this momentous meeting, and what is the legacy of this impact today?

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: April 2009