American Indian Studies (PHD) Graduate Program of Study at The University of Arizona

General Information

Program/Degree

American Indian Studies (PHD)

Program Description

The University of Arizona's PhD in American Indian Studies – the first such degree in the U.S. – is an interdisciplinary program designed to:

Prepare graduate students for careers both within the academy and/or in Native American governance, the nonprofit sector, philantropy, and/or government service;
Conduct advanced and applied scholarly research from an Indigenous and cross-cultural perspective;
Develop theoretical and innovative theories, methodologies, and research tools appropriate for and useful to sovereign tribes; and
Educate students to assume leadership and policy-making roles in higher education, tribal communities, the state and nation.

The Ph.D. program is designed to be completed in 3-4 years (after completing the Master's degree).

The PhD program is based in a commitment to three interrelated concepts:

Centering Native peoples – The American Indian Studies Graduate Interdisciplinary Program (AIS GIDP) at UA centers Native peoples – their knowledges, worldviews, perspectives, values, histories, experiences, lifeways, and futures – within research, education, and service. The AIS GIDP seeks understanding from an Indigenous perspective, placing Native ontologies, epistemologies, axiologies, methodologies, and pedagogies at the center of the intellectual effort to understand, teach about, and serve Indigenous communities. AIS GIDP seeks to examine the world through an Indigenous perspective, utilizing Peoplehood as a primary disciplinary lens.
Peoplehood – Conceptions of Peoplehood serve as a primary lens for understanding the commonalities and diversity of American Indian and Indigenous communities. Originally proposed by faculty and students in the UA Department of American Indian Studies in 2003, the concept of Peoplehood has become a critical lens for “rearticulating indigenous identity,” one that “offers the most promise in terms of its non-Western approach to identity, its flexibility, comprehensiveness, and allowance for cultural continuity and change” (Corntassel, 2003). The “Peoplehood” model represents their understanding of the interrelated components of indigeneity broadly, as well as the specificity and diversity of Indigenous communities in the U.S. and beyond.
Community engagement and services – "Relational accountability” sits at the heart of Indigenous research and scholarship. This places an obligation on AIS as a discipline – and the AIS GIDP – to not just center Indigenous knowledges in our research and teaching, but to build relationships with Indigenous communities, to be accountable to those relationships and communities, and to contribute in tangible ways to the continued thriving of Native peoples. What this engagement, accountability, and service will look like will vary greatly as each member of the faculty and each graduate student has a different area of focus and specialization. The diversity of engagement and service only serves to underscore our collective commitment to supporting the many elements of Indigenous Peoplehood.

Taken together, these commitments distinguish PhD studies in American Indian Studies at UA as a discipline, and provide a theoretical model for the intellectual, pedagogical, and service work of the GIDP’s faculty and students.

Department/Academic Unit(s)

Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs

The Graduate College sponsors several Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs (GIDPs) in addition to the many interdisciplinary possibilities available through regular graduate degree programs. GIDPs transcend departmental boundaries by facilitating cutting edge teaching and research at the nexus of traditional disciplines. The high value placed on interdisciplinary research and education is indicative of The University of Arizona's enthusiasm and commitment to fostering innovation and creativity among its faculty and students.

College

Graduate College/GIDP

Campus where offered

University of Arizona - Main - Tucson

Contacts

Tuition and Fees

Please refer to the UA Bursar's Office Tuition and Fees Calculator for up-to-date information about tuition and fees.
Please refer to the UA Registrar's's Office Special Course Fees for up-to-date information about special course fees.

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

Checklist for Online Application Material

On-line application and fee.
A Personal Statement (3 to 5 pages) including your educational goals, professional plans, your interest in our Ph.D. program and your background in American Indian Studies or with American Indian communities.
A Current Resume or Curriculum Vitae.
One Writing Sample (between 15 and 20 pages double spaced) of original work that is academic, technical, professional or artistic in nature.
One Critical Essay (no more than 5 pages double spaced) which analyzes three American Indian Studies books or monographs of your choice.
Electronic copies of Official Transcripts from all institutions attended, undergraduate and graduate. On acceptance into the program students will need to submit original transcripts.
Three Letters of Recommendation from faculty or supervisors who can attest to your achievements and academic potential. Letters from faculty are preferred for applicants currently or recently working in academia.

A Master’s degree or equivalent from an accredited institution is required for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy program in AIS. The Master’s degree must be completed before the applicant begins in the AIS program, August for fall admissions. All application materials must be received by January 15th for the following fall semester admissions. A minimum grade point average of 3.2 is required for admissions. GRE scores are recommended, but not required. At the discretion of the Admissions Committee, exceptionally qualified applicants who do not hold a Master’s degree may be considered for admission. AIS accepts a limited number of new Ph.D. students each year. Student selection is very competitive. The Admissions Committee will not consider incomplete application files.

Standardized Tests

Required test(s): none

Recommended tests: GRE

Minimum TOEFL: 550

Funding Opportunities

AIS GIDP strives to assist all students accpeted into the PhD program meet the financial demands of their studies through a variety of sources. Internal funding sources include:

Graduate Teaching Assistantships – A limited humber of GTA positions are made available to AIS PhD students each semester. These GTA positions are for classes both taught within the AIS Department and in other areas of the UA where the student's skill can be effectively utilized. To be considered, a short application is required. GTA positions require the student to have completed or currently be enrolled in AIS679A – College Teaching Methods.
Graduate Tuition Scholarships – The AIS GIDP has a significant budget available to provide scholarships to assist students cover the costs of their tuition.
Graduate College Fellowships – The UA Graduate College provides a limited budget for the AIS GIDP to provide select students with fellowship funds.

See American Indian Studies website at http://www.ais.arizona.edu/content/financial-aid-resources for more funding opportunities. All students are encouraged to seek outside sources of funding such as scholarships, fellowships and/or tribal financial aid,

Admissions Deadlines

Domestic Applicants:

Fall: January 15

International Applicants:

Fall: January 15

International Conditional Admission

International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.

Other Information

The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

Completion Requirements

Minimum Credit Units

Core Coursework Requirements

Minumum credits: 66
Core coursework: 48 Core Coursework Hours
18 Dissertation Hours

REQUIRED UNITS:

The equivalent of at least six semesters of full-time coursework (including dissertation units) is required for the Ph.D. Completion of a minimum of 66 units with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (comprised of 48 units of coursework and 18 units of dissertation credits) in American Indian Studies and related fields, are compulsory. All Incompletes in any AIS doctoral core course must be converted to a grade prior to the comprehensive exam; students may have one Incomplete on the grade record (in an elective course) and proceed to the Comprehensive exam, as long as overall GPA and credit requirements are fulfilled.

CORE & ELECTIVE COURSES: 48 Units

Please NOTE: The AIS GIDP is currently re-organizing the MA and PhD programs to offer students more options and the ability to take advantage of the fact that the AIS GIDP consists of more than 40 faculty members from colleges and departments across campus. We hope to have the new structures announced by the end of 2020. In the interim, we are encouraging students to work closely with their advisor to customize a plan of study. Students are still required to complete the minimum number of credit hours, as well as a methods course, but pending re-organization, we are permitting flexibility regarding the other requirements. Students are also required to complete the teaching methods course prior to serving as a Teaching Assistant.

Elective Coursework

Minumum credits: 66
Core coursework: 48 Core Coursework Hours
18 Dissertation Hours

REQUIRED UNITS:

CORE & ELECTIVE COURSES: 48 Units

AIS504 – Fundamentals of American Indian Studies (Required)
Students have multiple concentration areas from which to choose coursework to meet the 48- unit minimum, for example: Education, Environment, Law & Policy, Literature, Society & Culture. The list of concentration areas may change over time. Students must work with their Faculty advisor and Faculty Comprehensive Exam Committee to create a Plan of Study according to the following guidelines:
- 1) A minimum of 12 units within the Theory and Research Methods area. Students may not petition out of the Theory & Methods concentration area course requirements; no substitutions are allowed for AIS 602 or AIS 697A.
- 2) A minimum of 15 units within one concentration area.
- 3)At least one 3-unit course must be completed in each of two other concentration areas; one of these courses must be a Law & Policy course (if #2 area is not Law & Policy).

American Indian Education Concentration
American Indian Education courses offer students the opportunity to explore education of Native peoples from pre-contact to the present. Emphasis is on historical issues; contemporary political and legal implications; various pedagogical methodologies; curriculum development; and the relationship between tribal, community, national, state and local agencies and institutions involved in Indian education. Students may supplement the American Indian Education curriculum with the AIS Internship Program (AIS 693), which places students in internships in tribal governments or community organizations, and with related courses from the College of Education, or other departments, subject to approval by their committee.

American Indian Education Courses:
(3) AIS 565 Tribal Colleges
(3) AIS 676 Native American Curriculum Development
(3) AIS 677 History of Indian Education
(3) AIS 678 Contemporary Education & Research
(3) AIS 679 American Indian Higher Education
(3) AIS 696E Seminar in American Indian Education (may take twice)

American Indian Law and Policy Concentration
The Law and Policy courses focus on the development of Federal Indian Law and Policy from the American Indian’s first contact with Europeans to the present time. The selected courses offer students an interdisciplinary approach to the interactions between Native and non-Native peoples through historical, legal, and political analysis. Law and Policy courses expose students to the unique relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes, including litigation and policies, how those relationships are presently maintained, and the development of contemporary tribal governments. Students may supplement their study in Law and Policy with the AIS Internship Program (AIS 693), which places students in tribal governments or community organizations; and with related courses from the College of Law, Department of Political Science, or other departments, subject to approval by their committee.

Law and Policy Courses:
(3) AIS 525 Native Economic Development
(3) AIS 575 Contemporary Federal Indian Policy
(3) AIS 584 Development of Federal Indian Policy (3) AIS 585 American Indian Gaming
(3) AIS 596H American Indian Law & Policy Seminar (3) AIS 631A Federal Indian Law

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(3) AIS 631B Tribal Courts & Indian Tribal Law
(3) AIS 696D Indigenous Peoples Law Clinic
(3) AIS 697B Globalization and Preservation of Culture

American Indian Literatures Concentration
American Indian Literature courses offer students the opportunity to explore American Indian literatures from Native American perspectives. Through the courses, students will gain an understanding of how Native American literatures are used in a cultural context. Students will be exposed to a variety of American Indian writers and will examine the relationship between oral and written traditions. Students may supplement their study with courses in other departments, subject to approval by their committee.

Literature Courses:
(3) AIS 524 Studies in Southwest Literature
(3) AIS 549A Folklore
(3) AIS Indigenous Activist Literature
(3) AIS 452A Mixed Media Story Telling
(3) AIS 577 American Indian Literature
(3) AIS 596M Studies in Oral Tradition (may repeat up to 9 units)
(3) AIS 646 Ancient & Contemporary Voices
(3) AIS 696F Seminar in Languages & Literature (may repeat up to 6 units)

Societies and Cultures Concentration
Societies and Cultures courses are designed to give students an understanding of the worldviews, institutions, and socio-cultural characteristics of Native life in North America. Students will examine Indian communities before and after contact with other societies from around the globe, and will study the exchanges between European and other immigrants and the societies and cultures of Native North America. Students may supplement their study with the AIS Internship Program (AIS 693), which places students in internships in tribal governments or community organizations, and with related courses in other departments subject to approval by their committee.

Societies and Cultures Courses:
(3) AIS 502 Dynamics of American Indian Societies
(3) AIS 513 Ethnology of the Southwest
(3) AIS 515 American Indians and the Urban Experience
(3) AIS 516 Contemporary Indian America
(3) AIS 518 Southwest Land and Society
(3) AIS 521 Ethnology of North America
(3) AIS 541A Natural Resource Management in Native Communities (3) AIS 535 Mexican Traditional Medicine: An Overview of Indigenous

Curing Cultures (3) AIS 537A Nation Building I

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(3) AIS 571B Space: A Social Cultural View/American Indian Landscape and Architecture

(3) AIS 589 Areal Survey of Native North American Languages
(3) AIS 597A Descriptive Linguistics for Native American Languages (3) AIS Issues of American Indian Language & Policy
(3) AIS Globalization and Indigenous Peoples
(3) AIS Cultural Preservation: Oral Histories
(3) AIS 637A Nation Building II
(3) AIS 696C Seminar in Societies and Cultures (may take twice)

Natural Resources Management Concentration
Natural Resources courses train graduate students to be conversant with the problems of managing natural resources on American Indian reservations and off-reservation areas. These courses are designed for students to understand current natural resource and environmental issues affecting American Indian nations, and understand current issues affecting the administration and management of natural resources on tribal lands, as well as understand federal environmental and natural resource policies impacting American Indian tribal nations. Students may supplement their study with the AIS Internship Program (AIS 693), which places students in internships in tribal governments or community organizations, and with related courses in other departments subject to approval by their committee.

Natural Resources Courses:
(3) AIS 541A Natural Resource Management in Native Communities (3) AIS 526A Principles of Indigenous Economics
(3) AIS 531A Traditional Ecological Knowledge
(3) AIS 595A Globalization, Natural Resources & Indigenous Peoples (3) AIS 575 Contemporary Federal Indian Policy
(3) AIS 584 Development of Federal Indian Law
(3) AIS 603 Nation Building I

Theory and Research Methods Requirement: 12 Units
All students are required to complete 12 units of Theory & Research Methods coursework:

*(3) AIS 602 Interdisciplinary Research: Theory and Methods *(3) AIS 697A Workshop: College Teaching Methods

(6) And 2 approved Methods Course from a discipline appropriate to the dissertation. (See “Other Methods Courses” below, AIS 548 may not be used to fulfill this requirement).

*require a minimum grade of B/3.0 to count toward the degree

Suggested Methods Courses
Courses listed below, or other courses not on this list, must be approved by the student’s Faculty Comprehensive Exam Committee.

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(3) ANTH 607 Anthropological Research Methods & Design (3) ENGL 596K Methods & Materials of Literary Research (3) ENGL 596L Theories of Criticism
(3) HIST 695K Historiography

(3) IRLS 552 Instructional Methods for Librarians
(3) IRLS 601 Theory of Classification
(3) LRC 605 Qualitative Methods in Education
(3) LRC 696D Language Research Methodology in Education (3) POL 582 Research & Methodology

(3) SOC 569 Basic Quantitative Methods
(3) SOC 570A/B Social Statistics
(3) SOC 575 Advanced Social Research Methods (3) WS 684 Feminist Research Methodologies

Other AIS Courses:
(3-6) AIS 595A Special Topics in American Indian Studies
(1-6) AIS 693 Internship
(1-6) AIS 694 Practicum (may be repeated once)
(1-6) AIS 699 Independent Study (may be repeated once, maximum of 6 units) (1-2) AIS 791 Preceptorship (may be repeated once, maximum 2 units)
(1-12) AIS 900 Research (not related to dissertation preparation)
(1-9) AIS 920 Dissertation
(3-6) AILDI summer courses, topics and courses vary

Additional Requirements

University language requirement
Comprehensive exams
Dissertation proposal
Puvlic defense of dissertation

Minor Requirements for Doctoral Students in this Program

9 Units; See Guidelines for Ph.D. Minor in American Indian Studies for more details.

Please NOTE: The AIS GIDP is currently re-organizing the MA and PhD programs to offer students more options and the ability to take advantage of the fact that the AIS GIDP consists of more than 40 faculty members from colleges and departments across campus. We hope to have the new structures announced by the end of 2020. We expect that this re-organization may also impact the PhD minor. In the interim, we are encouraging students to work closely with their advisor to customize a plan of study. Students are still required to complete the minimum number of credit hours, as well as a methods course, but pending re-organization, we are permitting flexibility regarding the other requirements. Students are also required to complete the teaching methods course prior to serving as a Teaching Assistant.

Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers

Program-level Information
Application Acceptance Rate	66.67%
Avg. Time-to-degree (years)	7.15

Department-level Information
Enrollment Percent Male	26.09%
Enrollment Percent Female	73.91%
Enrollment Percent International	13.04%
Enrollment Percent URM	65.22%

All application, admit, and enrollment data are from Fall 2022.
Average Time to Degree calculates how long graduates in the last 5 years (2018-2022) took to complete their degrees, counting back to the first semester entering their program.
Underrepresented Minorities (URM) includes domestic students of ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education: African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

Persistent link: https://grad.arizona.edu/catalog/programinfo/AISPHD

Last revised 30 Apr 2021

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Graduate Program: American Indian Studies (PHD)

General Information

Admissions Contact

Graduate Program Coordinator

Director of Graduate Studies

Graduate College Degree Auditor

Admissions Information

Completion Requirements

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers