Southwest Studies

SW 100 Fundamentals of Navajo Language I (3-0) 3
A course in the basic fundamentals of the Navajo language on the oral-aural approach. A native speaker is the instructor and much use is made of tapes, etc. Same as ML 100.

SW 101 Navajo Language II (3-0) 3
Continuation of Navajo I. Whereas Navajo I emphasized speaking, this course will center on reading and writing the Navajo language. Same as ML 101.
Prerequisites: SW 100 or consent of instructor.

SW115 Native American Newsletter (3-0) 3
For lower-division students with good writing skills. Students will prepare six stories for publication in the Intercultural News, gaining basic skills in newswriting for a specific readership, Macintosh computer format, photo taking, and news layout and design. Coursework will include concepts pertinent to contributing to communications in “Indian Country.” May be taken twice for credit.

SW 123 American Indian History (3-0) 3
The history of Indians of the United States from contact to the present.

SW 125 History of Hispanos in the Southwest (3-0) 3
A study of the history of the Hispanos in the American Southwest from the period of exploration to the Chicano Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. For the purposes of this course the Southwest is defined as including the geographic area under Spanish and Mexican sovereignty before 1848.

SW 131 Southwest History and Culture (3-0) 3
A broad introduction to Southwestern history and cultures with lectures on history, archaeology, literature, art, and other related topics.

SW 135R The Southwest I (4-0) 4
The course will feature an interdisciplinary approach for examining the uniqueness of the Southwest. Students will examine the geological, biological, historical, and cultural diversity of the Southwest. Major problems confronting this region will be explored.

SW 136 The Southwest II (4-0) 4
This course concentrates on contemporary practical and conceptual problems and issues such as indigenous land rights, the environment, tourism, economic development, water, racism, the U.S./Mexico border, labor, demographics, among others. Emphasis will also be given to creative problem solving that draws on multicultural and interdisciplinary sources.

SW 154 Indian Arts and Crafts I (0-6) 3
This course is the same as Art 154. For description of course, see Art. Fall and winter terms.

SW 155 Indian Arts and Crafts II (0-6) 3
A course which may include such media as weaving, silversmithing, pottery work, leathercraft, bead work, and basketry. Offered on demand. Fall and winter terms.

SW 181 U.S./Southwest Environmental History (3-0) 3
This course explores the environmental history of the U.S. from pre-European contact through today, with a focus on the West/Southwest. The course will look at how the land and culture(s) interacted to reorganize and redefine one another, the relationship between environmental and cultural change, and how the present is linked to the past. This course is the same as Hist 181.

SW 250NX Ecology of the Southwest (3-2) 4
This course provides an understanding of the scientific method by investigating the ecology of the Southwest. Through field trips and research projects, students learn to recognize major plant and animal species, and ecological factors that limit species distribution and abundance. Lectures and readings provide insights into major ecological processes, e.g., population growth, food webs, and natural disturbances. Same course as Bio 250 NX. Fall term only.

SW 255 Introduction to Heritage Preservation (3-0) 3
The Introduction to Heritage Preservation course will introduce students to a number of career paths in public history, archives, museums, and interpretation within federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and tribal cultural preservation programs. Field trips, guest speakers, and group projects will be featured.
Prerequisites: SW 131 or 135R.

SW 256 Introduction to Museums (1-0) 1
Introduction to Museums will enable students to learn about a wide facet of museum careers in art, culture, and history museums and in the interpretation of culture and historic sites. Students will get hands-on experience with the numerous collections at the Center of Southwest Studies. Field trips, guest speakers, and group projects will be featured.
Prerequisites: SW 131 or 135R.

SW 265 Art History of the Southwest (3-0) 3
This course is the same as Art 265. For description of course, see Art.

SW 280 Native American in the Modern World (3-0) 3
An advanced study of contemporary affairs that involve the American Indian. The historical beginnings, development, and current significance of issues will be studied.

SW 282 The Hispano Culture of the Southwest (3-0) 3
This course examines the culture of the Hispanos in the Southwest. The material is studied from an ethnohistorical perspective, i.e., how the culture developed from the Spanish colonial period to the present. Ideal culture and real culture are contrasted in the course in order to understand the dynamics of culture and its constant evolution.

SW 301W Writing in the Southwest Studies
Discipline (3-0) 3
This course fulfills the writing requirement for the Southwest Studies major. Students will study methods of writing of established scholars in the field and produce their own written materials appropriate for Southwest Studies. Offered on demand.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 315 Native American Newswriting (3-0) 3
For upper-division students with good writing skills. In addition to the requirements for the SW 115 level course, students will work with and edit stories for students in the 115 class. May be taken twice for credit.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150, and consent of instructor.

SW 317 History of American Indians in Film (3-0) 3
An analysis of the treatment of American Indians in film. It also will relate film images to images in literature and other media.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 320 Western/Southwest American History (3-0) 3
This course will focus on the 19th century American west. Using the theme of expansionism, the course will look at the interaction between cultures and people in the West, the forces that produced a unique section of the country, the creation of the mythic West and its enduring legacy, and how the present is linked to the past in the trans-Mississippi West. Winter term, alternate years. This course is the same as Hist 320; credit will only be awarded for one of these courses.

SW 322 American Indian Philosophies (3-0) 3
The course will look at the various aspects of American Indian philosophies and the manifestations of those philosophies. The course will study both traditional philosophies and those which have been changed through contact with American society.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 323 Southwest Indian History (3-0) 3
Studies the history and culture of Native American groups in the Southwest.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 326 West And Southwest in Film and Fiction (3-0) 3
An analysis of the treatment of the West and Southwest in film and fiction.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 327 American Indians and the Mass Media (3-0) 3
The Native Peoples of North America have been the subjects of a virtual war of misinformation since first contacts with Europeans. American mass media still cast images of Indian people which serve to trivialize their concerns and confound their attempts to remain culturally distinct and sovereign peoples. Students in this course will appraise the process and effects of stereotyping of Indian people in the mass media and learn of the responses of today’s Indian media professionals. Issues of cultural dominance and new media technologies will also be examined. Students will evaluate media materials through written research and oral presentations and produce media products to counter the problems created for Indian people by the mass media.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 330 Cowboys, Cattlemen, and Popular Culture (3-0) 3
This course focuses upon the cattle industry in the United States. The approach is interdisciplinary and will include history, folklore, music, art, and literature. Contemporary issues such as those related to grazing policies, image of the cowboy, and rodeo will also be included.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 340 Archival Theory and Practice (2-3)3
The tools and approaches taught in this course should be useful to anyone who aims at making a difference in today’s information age. In addition to learning organizational principles from the archival profession, students will examine and implement effective and efficient ways of storing, accessing, and selectively preserving data. Classes are supplemented by archival work in the Center of Southwest Studies.

SW 341 Oral History: Theory and Practice (3-0) 3
This course uses interactive listening to provide an understanding of the theory and practice of producing oral histories. It will benefit a budding historian, anthropologist, folklorist, sociologist, or archivist, and anyone wanting to improve listening skills and desiring to preserve an otherwise undocumented aspect of our past. Participants practice oral history interviewing and transcription. The final product is a transcribed oral history interview of sufficient historical research value to warrant inclusion in the Center of Southwest Studies collection.

SW 342 Interpretation of Cultural Resources (3-0) 3
This course is designed to prepare students in the interpretation of cultural resources and to create awareness of Native American perspectives regarding cultural resources.
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

SW 355 Development of United States
Indian Policy (3-0) 3
This course traces the development of United States policy toward the American Indians. Beginning with the policies inherited from European colonizers, the federal government developed expedient policies to balance the desires of its own citizens with the Indian peoples’ legal rights and hopes for continued tribal survival. The course documents the opposing concepts of assimilation and segregation which have led to the present philosophy of pluralism and self-determination in United States Indian policy.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 360 Mesoamerican Art Hiostry (3-0) 3
This course is the same as Art 365. See Art 365 for course description.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 365 Hispanic Civilization (3-0) 3
Contributions of Spain and Portugal to the building of western civilization. Topics include: Great Age of Exploration, golden Age of Spanish-Portuguese Civilization, Masterworks of Literature, and History of Ideas. Offered on demand.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 375 Hispanic-American Civilization (3-0) 3
The literature, culture, thought, art, anthropology, history, geography, and contemporary position of Hispanic-American civilization. Offered on demand.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 380 Native American Literature: Topics (4-0) 4
A study of traditional and contemporary Native American expression as seen through oration, tales and legends, chants and songs, poetry, drama, autobiography and the novel. Fall and winter terms. This course is the same as Engl 380; credit will only be awarded for one of these courses.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 381 Chicano Literature (3-0) 3
This course is the same as ML 331. See ML 331 for course description.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 383 Southwest History to 1868 (3-0) 3
This course will cover the Spanish, Mexican, and early territorial periods in the Southwest, concluding with the end of the Civil War and the Navajo treaty of 1868.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 384 Southwest History, 1868 to Present (3-0) 3
This course will cover the political, social, and economic history of the Southwest from 1868 to the present.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 402 Contemporary Art and Literature
of the Southwest (3-0) 3
The course will conceptualize the Southwestern artist in terms of spirit and place, or broadly speaking, the effect the landscape has upon art and the artists. In addition, the course will focus on critical issues such as marketing of ethnicity, repatriation, looting of archaeological sites and the artifact black market, curating major exhibits, and displaying of and writing about the sacred.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 450 Tribal Preservation (3-0) 3
Tribal Preservation will introduce students to all aspects of tribal historic preservation and cultural resource management on Indian lands. Using a case study approach, students will learn how to preserve and protect sacred objects and sacred places and explore career options with native programs. Field trips and guest speakers will be featured.
Prerequisites: SW 131 or 135; SW 250NX.

SW 481 Colorado History (3-0) 3
The history and peoples of Colorado from the preterritorial days through the present.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 482 Mining in the American West (3-0) 3
From the days of the Spanish to today, a history of mining and its impact, with special emphasis on the Southwest.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 491 Practicum 3
As an integral part of a heritage preservation certificate, the Southwest Studies practicum will provide valuable work-related experience in the Durango area for a minimum of 120 contact hours. Students may work on campus, in area museums, or with federal agencies involved in cultural preservation. This is a formal, mentored relationship to allow students to pursue career goals in the preservation field.
Prerequisites: SW 131 or 135; SW 250Nx.

SW 493 Internship in Southwest Studies 3-6
The internship offers instruction and hands-on experience in museology and archival management.
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

SW 496 Senior Seminar (3-0) 3
Senior seminar in Southwest Studies.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150.

SW 499 Problems in Southwest Studies 3
A senior-level individual research project based on the needs and interests of the individual. Offered on demand.
Prerequisites: Comp 150, Lib 150, and consent of committee director.

Course Listings