About Our Programs

The Department of American Indian Studies is situated in vital local and regional Indigenous communities while connecting our work to global and comparative Indigenous Studies. Students, faculty, staff, and community members associated with the department have shared space to work and learn in Pattee Hall, the department’s new home as of October 2024.

Graduate-level training in American Indian and Indigenous studies includes a new PhD program that admitted its first cohort for fall 2025, and an established graduate minor for current master’s and doctoral students in other UMN-Twin Cities programs. Individuals who are not current graduate students at UMN also have the option to study with us by taking individual courses for personal and professional enrichment as a non-degree student.

American Indian Studies faculty members are active in advising, teaching, and mentoring graduate students across the disciplines, including the following.

Please see our Graduate Faculty Education Role List to preview faculty available to serve as graduate committee members and mentors.

Opportunities For Graduate Students

Our graduate students are active members of scholarly communities at the local, regional, and national levels. Students are encouraged to work with their advisers to explore these and other opportunities for support, engagement and collaboration, and professional development, and to craft a holistic graduate training experience that nurtures the whole student.

American Indian and Indigenous Studies Workshop (AIISW)

Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender & Sexuality Studies (RIDGS)

Language Programs in Dakota and Ojibwe

The Department of American Indian Studies’ Dakota and Ojibwe Language Programs revitalize the knowledge and understanding contained in Minnesota’s indigenous languages. Our language learners participate in a global indigenous movement to revitalize indigenous languages and culture—because all languages transmit a valuable perspective of the world.

AIIS PhD students have the opportunity to take courses in Dakota and Ojibwe as part of their electives coursework for the doctoral curriculum. Graduate students from Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) institutions also enroll in these courses through the course share program, fostering a vibrant, national community of language learners.

Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA)

Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS)

The University of Minnesota is a charter member of the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS). Consisting of twenty member institutions across the US and Canada, the NCAIS features a robust set of programming for graduate students, including an annual workshop, summer seminar (both led by NCAIS faculty), a graduate student conference, and graduate research fellowships.

Office of Native American Affairs

The University of Minnesota’s Office of Native American Affairs facilitates communication and consultation with Tribal Nations and works to improve the University of Minnesota systemwide to better serve Native communities and learners. The site provides resources for students, faculty, and staff, and culturally responsive training to guide research, pedagogy, scholarship, and academic initiatives.

Additional Resources

University of Minnesota Policy on Indigenous Research

All researchers at the University of Minnesota are required to adhere to the University of Minnesota Indigenous Research Policy adopted by the Board of Regents at their July 2024 meeting: “This policy is intended to inform and assist University of Minnesota researchers and practitioners, including faculty, staff, research scholars, clinicians, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students who are pursuing work with Tribal partners, Tribal communities, Tribal natural resources, and other Tribally-controlled or Tribal-serving institutions, Indigenous Peoples, places, and objects of cultural significance to Indigenous Peoples, wherever those Indigenous peoples, places, and objects may be.”

This policy is administered by the Office of Native American Affairs, which University researchers with culturally responsive training to guide research projects, pedagogy, scholarship, and academic initiatives that respect Tribal sovereignty.