Spring 2027

Introduction to American Indian Studies

Introduction to American Indian Studies focusing on the history, social organization, political experience, and artistic expression of North American Indians through an interdisciplinary lens.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Collin Rohrbaugh

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Sasha Suarez

The course required heavy reading outside of class but had minimal in-class work, with 2-3 essay assignments and no exams.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify the complexity and diversity of Indian country, both from a historical and contemporary perspective.

  • Recognize Native perspectives on identity and explain the impact of external influences on individual and tribal identity, including the role of Native stereotypes and (mis)representations of Native people.

  • Discuss the impact of colonialism and federal Indian policy on tribal sovereignty and Native people and give examples of the ways tribal sovereignty and treaty rights have been eroded over time.

  • Examine the impact of racism, privilege, marginalization and oppression on the production of contemporary disparities in Indian country.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
AMERIND 100 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

KASEY KEELER is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LEAH HOROWITZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MATT VILLENEUVE is recorded teaching in Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAULA MOHAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SASHA SUAREZ is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SHANNON SPARKS is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 2250
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 309Classroom Instruction0 / 250

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Sasha Suarez

Students described the course as meaningful with a collaborative, discussion-based format that features heavy outside reading but minimal in-class work.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.70 GPA, 87.4% A/AB (n=254 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.71 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=368 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.43 GPA, 69.3% A/AB (n=261 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Sasha Suarez

The course required heavy reading outside of class but had minimal in-class work, with 2-3 essay assignments and no exams.

Past student reviews · Sasha Suarez

One student found the grading frustrating because attendance was required for discussion despite not being technically mandatory, and grades varied significantly by TA.

Topics

  • History, social organization, political experience, and artistic expression of North American Indians
  • Colonialism, federal Indian policy, tribal sovereignty, and treaty rights
  • Native perspectives on identity, external influences, stereotypes, and misrepresentations
  • Racism, privilege, marginalization, oppression, and contemporary disparities in Indian country

Skills

  • Identifying the complexity and diversity of Indian country from historical and contemporary perspectives
  • Recognizing Native perspectives on identity and explaining the impact of external influences, stereotypes, and misrepresentations
  • Discussing the impact of colonialism and federal Indian policy on tribal sovereignty and providing examples of erosion of treaty rights
  • Examining the impact of racism, privilege, marginalization, and oppression on contemporary disparities in Indian country

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.17 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
AMERIND 100 · Spring 2027

Introduction to American Indian Studies

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:140:000731",
    "course_id": "AMERIND 100",
    "course_uid": "course_f4231025a0ef0f96b76a3184",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "000731",
    "source_subject_id": "140",
    "title": "Introduction to American Indian Studies",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "bb7696cdc7d663ad6557e7ae6e6fc0174a7b36a7e2909115b7e9df30298a4b9c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}