Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — American Indian studies programs at four universities in the Dakotas are collaborating to boost the quality of their offerings to students, raise awareness of Native American issues and help ensure their own futures.
Officials also are looking to recruit other schools in the region into the American Indian Studies-Great Plains Consortium, which was launched late last month by the University of North Dakota, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State and Black Hills State.
The schools' Indian studies programs are well-established, but small, with fewer than 10 total full-time faculty members and only a couple of dozen students majoring in the discipline, according to UND Indian Studies Chairman Sebastian Braun.
Consortium participants hope that by collaborating, they can offer students a broader and stronger education.
"We all have our strengths. We all offer different classes. We have different faculty with different focuses," said David Posthumus, a professor in the USD Native Studies program.
For example, Posthumus said, he himself is an anthropologist and USD specializes in Lakota studies, and the consortium could help spread knowledge in those areas to students at other schools.
"We're passionate about our interests. We want everybody to feel that passion," Posthumus said.
The consortium held its first meeting at SDSU in late March and is still working out how best to accomplish its goals. Among the possibilities being discussed are faculty exchanges, student conferences, cooperation in curriculum development and "perhaps in the future, some sort of an online or collaborative master's program," Braun said.
Another goal is to increase student participation and faculty numbers, which could help ensure the long-term future of the programs, he said.
"If this (consortium) helps make the programs more attractive, then all the better," Braun said.
Officials at universities in Minnesota and Iowa already have asked about the possibility of joining the consortium, according to Posthumus and Braun. The group will be open to public and tribal colleges throughout the region, which also would include Montana and Nebraska, they said.
"We just think a liberal arts, broad education in Native studies is going to prepare students to go out and be successful not just in (the region) but in the world in general," Posthumus said.
___
Follow Blake Nicholson on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NicholsonBlake
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
