This course will explore the socio-political challenges of Indigenous communities which have been shaped by a historical colonial relationship within Canadian society. These influences shape the landscape of the contemporary social, cultural, political and economic issues which are experienced by the First Nations Peoples in Canada. The course will focus on the exploration of these relationships and will be framed through an Indigenous paradigm specifically the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Kainai with a critical perspective.

Blackfoot 100 is an introduction to spoken Blackfoot language. This course will provide a forum for students to speak in conversations within a real setting through everyday situations and activities. Course assignments and activities will assist in the development of skills to listen, read, write, and speak in Blackfoot. The students will use everyday surroundings and activities to become consciously aware using Kakyosin to speak the language Ihpipotosp.

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Organized in a lecture and workshop format, this course represents an introduction to the grammar, structure, mechanics, research practices, and nuances of academic reading and writing. In addition to assigned readings, lectures, and exercises, in-class learning activities will offer you the opportunity to practice what you learn and receive immediate feedback.The writing assignments and Skill Tests will help you to further absorb what you have learned.

This course is an introductory level survey of the methods and findings of modern scientific psychology.The goal is to provide students with an overview of various topic domains within the realm of psychology. These will include topic such as: behaviour, psychological concepts from the levels of the brain (biological factors), body, the individual (beliefs, desires, and feelings), and the group (social, cultural, and environmental factors). Students will have an opportunity to become familiar with these concepts and discuss comparisons in past and present Blackfoot culture.The students will learn how to organize and integrate topics within the chapters and actively apply traditional and modern-day psychology to their lives. Students will examine and critically reflect upon the historical and present-day societal issues that influence how one interacts within their social, emotional, physical and cultural environments.Students are encouraged and expected to apply critical thinking to the concepts being taught in material and Indigenous practices of support and healing to their studies.

English 110: is the introductory course for post-secondary English. It is a prerequisite for all higher-level courses. This course is designed to introduce students to the study of English at the university level. Through the reading and analysis of poetry, short fiction, drama, and a contemporary novel, students will gain an awareness of how “literature” constructs meaning.

This course will introduce students to the fundamental substantive and theoretical areas and issues in the field of sociology. In addition to classical theories and contemporary knowledge, it will also address a wide variety of substantive topics, including (but not necessarily limited to) social imagination, social theories, research, methodology and ethics, culture and socialization, race and racialization, families, education, crime, media, aging, politics, religion and globalization.

Euro-centered concepts have been applied to Niitsitapi Indigenous peoples and subsequently have socially reconstructed and altered the reality of Indigenous peoples. Often concepts embroil Indigenous people in a power relationship that is intended to dehumanize and despiritualize Indigenous cultures and peoples (Ani, 1994, p. 478-479). Power and superiority fundamentally govern relationships within the Euro centered worldview. As a consequence, theories and research become primarily reactionary responses, often supporting the existing power relationships inherent in such hierarchical worldview.

This course will examine the impact of colonization on Indigenous Peoples in Canada with focus on Blackfoot context: policies and constructs that have shaped the cultural identity, values, social structure, spirituality and education will be explored.

The course is an introduction to Indigenous writing and storytelling. It offers a survey of several literary genres that can include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography, essays, and speeches. Non-literary works are recognized for the stories they tell, such as the oral tradition; land and landscape; traditional art and artifacts; music, film, photography, digital media, and performance. Course materials, themes, concepts, approaches, and topics demonstrate the pivotal roles stories and storytellers play in shaping and reflecting Indigenous identities and perspectives; communities and nations; historical and contemporary issues.

The concept of power will be a central theme for the course that will survey structural forces which influence the image of Indigenous women from the settler era to current social issues of addictions, child welfare, and economic dependencies. These issues will be examined through the reinforcement of power relations which impact the construction of social relations structured by categories of identity including gender, race, class and sexuality.The Indigenous ontological responsibilities will be explored to provide a context for the possibilities for roles social transformation for identity, gender roles and cultural social relations.

The historical background of social psychology, this discipline employs scientific methods to understand ourselves as human beings in social contexts. Group behaviour, attitudes, conformity, cooperation, aggression, and prejudice are some examples of how the social context influences the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals. These processes will be examined throughout the course, and they will be discussed in the context of the lives and experiences of First Nations peoples in Canada. The course is designed to follow the principles of active learning. Every class will consist of a lecture, a period of in-class reading, a group analysis of a video related to the topic of each session, the review of materials that show the way in which the topic of the class has repercussions in the Blackfoot context, a team discussion of how the topic is related to the students’ personal experiences, and an in-class quiz.

This course examines from a wide range of perspectives the manner in which Canada has developed. Historical, economic, political, cultural, ideological and other perspectives are interwoven throughout the course with contemporary issues and the question of where Canada might be going. Is there a distinct Canadian identity? What is the position of women, Native peoples, and other visible minorities in Canada today? How is power distributed in Canada’s political system? Does Canada have a class system? How has immigration created modern Canada? What is regionalism? Are Quebec and Canada “two solitudes” or “Siamese twins”? How has neo-liberal globalization impacted Canada? How have Indigenous peoples in general and the Blackfoot in particular been changed by Canadian sociopolitical dynamics? These are only a few of the issues to be explored in the course.

The course Introduction to Cultural Anthropology provides an overview of the theories, methods, and concepts that this discipline uses to understand different cultural expressions, society's economic organization, conflicts, social stratification, politics, religion, and other phenomena. This course also provides students with an opportunity to critically reflect on the relationship between the development of cultural anthropology and the life transformations that Indigenous populations worldwide experienced in the context of colonialism.

This course is an introduction to the study of politics. Politics is part of nearly everything we do in our modern society but many people feel that politics is either too difficult to understand or too boring to bother. (If you are one of those people this course aims to change your mind and make you realize how much you already know about politics and how fun it is to learn more.) The systematic study of politics is one of the most popular of the social sciences so you may be someone considering a major in political science.

Psychology 211 introduces students to the major phenomena, methods, theories, and findings of Developmental Psychology, especially as they apply to infancy and childhood. Through in-class lectures, discussions and quizzes, the students will develop a better understanding of how children develop. Parents, caretakers, and teachers will be able to use this knowledge to support a child’s development and learning processes.

This course will introduce students to the social perceptions of deviance, social reactions to deviance, and the depiction of deviance by the media. We will pay special attention to the contexts where the tension between what is considered “deviant” and what is considered "normal" becomes apparent. These spaces of interaction include, but are not limited to, the field of sexuality, the world of the youth, physical appearance, mental health, religion, science, among others.Through readings, presentations, and multimedia materials, the students will be encouraged to engage in both the sociological study of deviance and Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) knowledge on social norms, spirituality, and Indigenous science. The course will support critical thinking and analysis of the relationship between Indigenous experiences and western culture and society.