becoming good ancestors to future generations
We illuminate American Indian and Indigenous culture, the place of American Indian and Indigenous peoples in today’s world, and the changing demands of American Indian and Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of cross-cultural diversity.
Indigenous Studies at MSU
Undergraduate
graduate
community
Paula Gunn Allen
![Our actions today [...] are guided by our reflection on our ancestors’ perspectives and on our desire to be good ancestors ourselves to future generations. Kyle Whyte](https://aiis.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sites/60/2021/08/Headshot-IMG_2337-150x150.png)
Kyle Whyte
![If a person wanted to get to the moon, there was a way; [...] it depended on whether you knew the story of how others before you had gone. Leslie Marmon Silko](https://aiis.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sites/60/2021/08/920919c675c3a5892455e081ee4a45ea-150x150.png)
Leslie Marmon Silko
![The future of [humankind] lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things. Vine Deloria Jr.](https://aiis.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sites/60/2021/08/Vine_Deloria-150x150.png)
Vine Deloria Jr.
featured News
MSU-Led Initiative Strengthens and Expands Access to Less Commonly Taught and Indigenous Language Education Across North America
After nearly a decade of transformative language revitalization work, Michigan State University’s Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) in the College of Arts & Letters has completed a landmark initiative strengthening and expanding access to less commonly taught and Indigenous language education at dozens of universities and in communities across the United States and Canada. From 2016 to 2025, the Less Commonly Taught and Indigenous Languages Partnership, funded by the Mellon Foundation, leveraged the established strengths of the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) to collaboratively develop sustainable models for less commonly taught language (LCTL) instruction grounded in proficiency-oriented best practices. Overall, the $3.5 million
Fall 2026 Undergraduate Courses
Fall 2026 Undergraduate Courses See below for the list of courses that will count towards the undergraduate minor this coming Fall. If you come across another class that you would like to have count towards the major, please reach out to the AIIS Director, Kristin Arola at arola@msu.edu and discuss the class with her. AIIS 201: Introduction to AIIST/Th 12:40-2Professor Elan Pochedley AIIS 490: Independent Study AIIS 493: Internship ANP 411: North American Indian EthnographyT/Th 10:20-11:40Professor John Norder ANP 432: American Indian WomenMW 10:20-11:40 Professor Heather Howard ENG 329: Readings in Poetry and PoeticsMW 1-2:20Professor Esther Belin HST 301: Indigenous-European
AIIS Minor Courses: AIIS Graduate Certificate Courses: Reminder – We can count any grad level course OR 400-level course towards the certificate so long as includes roughly 1/3 content related to AIIS. Please reach out to Dr. Kristin Arola at arola@msu.edu if you have any questions. IF you’re really stuck for Spring and need a course to graduate or stay on track with your program, reach out and we can discuss possible independent study credits.