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Summer 2007

Program Title: Contemporary Issues in Native American Communities
Academic Departments: Social Work (options for cross listing with Anthropology or Native American Studies)
Intercultural Location: Crownpoint, New Mexico (Navajo Nation)
Academic Instructor: Monica Frolander-Ulf, Ph.D.
Service-Learning Facilitator: Michelle Napier-Dunnings

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Amizade Global Service-Learning > Past Programs

Program Description

The Dine (Navajo) have a long history of migrations and eventual arrival in their present location in the area now encompassing Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. They were drawn into an increasingly globalized system of economic, political and cultural relationships with the arrival of the Spanish in the southwest in the 1500s. This course traces the role that the Navajo Nation and its people have played in shaping these relationships and the effects of outside influences on their lives. The theoretical foci include the basic principles underlying Navajo philosophy and worldview and the many-faceted and much-debated concept of globalization. Students will also be introduced to ethnographic methods and data gathering techniques during the three weeks on location in Navajo Nation territory.

Specific topics include 19th and 20th century Navajo/other Indian nations/U.S. relations, transnational energy companies and their impact on Navajo affairs, the Navajo involvement in the two world wars, as well as more recent wars, U.S. and global cultural influences on Navajo culture, Navajo cultural influences on U.S. culture, identity and the concept of dual citizenship, the survival of traditional subsistence activities and cultural practices in the face of an increasingly cash-based economy, as well as Navajo local and international political and social activism. (The final course content is to be determined in discussions with Navajo instructors.)

The service components allow students to investigate local healthcare, women's issues, environmental problems, children's welfare, and youth culture as consequences of the Dine Nation's location within the U.S. political economy. They will also gain an appreciation of the degree to which Dine have regained some measure of sovereignty within this system and what they still hope to achieve.

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Amizade Global Service-Learning > Past Programs

Program Learning Outcomes

At the end of global service-learning program and on-site experience, students will be able to:

1. Articulate several theoretical approaches regarding the dimensions of globalization.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the process of colonization as one aspect of globalization with a specific focus on indigenous populations and the Dine Nation.
3. Demonstrate basic knowledge of Dine culture and philosophy.
4. Identify ways in which indigenous cultures, with emphasis on the Dine Nation in particular, exert influence on a variety of global issues, including environment, spirituality, etc.
5. Effectively use skills in cross-cultural communication.
6. Appraise their own sensitivity to community needs and the culturally-diverse approaches to meeting those needs.
7. Design a qualitative research study and gather relevant data in a culturally-sensitive manner.
8. Incorporate the knowledge and experience gained from the service learning project into the broader educational objectives of their own course of study.

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Amizade Global Service-Learning > Past Programs

Academic Credits

Academic credits are awarded for this course through West Virginia University. The program is academically sponsored by the Division of Social Work (with options to cross list with Anthropology or Native American Studies):

Option 1 (Social Work Undergraduate Credits):
Social Work Special Topics: Globalization
- 3 undergraduate credits (SOWK 494)
AND
Social Work Special Topics: Global Service-Learning
- 3 undergraduate credits (SOWK 499)

Option 2 (Social Work Graduate Credits):
Social Work Special Topics: Globalization
- 3 graduate credits (SOWK 694)

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Amizade Global Service-Learning > Past Programs

Program Timeline

May 20
Online classroom discussions and academic preparatory work

June 10-30
Intercultural Service-Learning in Crownpoint, Navajo Nation
Service, field visits, lectures, documentaries, discussions, and reflections with Navajo hosts and instructors

July 1-10
Online classroom discussions and academic completion of program

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This page was last updated on May 7 , 2007