Course Description

What runs through your mind as you hear land acknowledgments at conferences, in classrooms, on syllabi, or in email signatures? What do you know about the relationship between UNM and the dozens of Pueblos and tribes indigenous to Albuquerque? What is your relationship with the Indigenous communities of Albuquerque as a UNM student? What images or narratives subconsciously come to mind when you hear the words Indigenous people, colonization, and tribes? How does all of this connect to Indigenous people’s lived realities of the present?

We often hear of Albuquerque referred to as a “border town” or hear mention of the university being on “unceded land,” but what does that truly mean for us as residents of Albuquerque and the relationships we have (or don’t have) with Indigenous people of the area? This course will allow you to interactively learn and experience the Indigenous history of Albuquerque while simultaneously pushing you to become more aware of contemporary relationships and tensions between urban Indigenous people and non-Indigenous groups that also reside in this shared space. We will unpack settler colonization and its impact and legacy in present-day Albuquerque. We will critically examine the representations and narratives that exist of Indigenous people and reshape those narratives by learning about some of the work that urban Indigenous groups and organizations do throughout the city. Most importantly, we will practice and engage in reciprocal relationship-building rooted in mutual respect.

Throughout the semester, we will be visiting places and organizations throughout the city important to the Indigenous urban community such as museums and community resource centers. We will also visit sculptures and landmarks throughout the city. We may also visit other places if invited by community elders and stakeholders to participate in events or ceremonies.

Texts

Indigenous Albuquerque - Myla Vicenti Carpio

Indians in Unexpected Places – Phillip J. Deloria

Occasional additional selected texts to accompany class visits or specific subject matter

Requirements

About the Instructor(s): Emily Castillo

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Emily earned her PhD in Sociology at UNM. She holds an MA in Latin American Studies from UF and a BA in International Relations from Eckerd College.  She is a first-generation, working-class Chicana focused on Ethnic Studies, whiteness, race and ethnicity, and educational justice and equity. She’s taught in Sociology and worked with El Centro’s El Puente Program as a Graduate Research Fellow and mentored dozens of undergraduate students across all disciplines.