American Indians in Film
Critical examination of the portrayal of the American Indian in film, including documentaries and films made by Native filmmakers.
Summary
Past student reviews · Nancy Mithlo
The course involved watching interesting films and writing about them, with a difficulty rating of 1 out of 5.
What you’ll be able to do
Outline the history of Native and Indigenous representation in American film from silent film to Hollywood to Indigenous documentaries
Recognize and question long-held assumptions about Native America and its peoples as conveyed through the film industry
Describe the ways historical representations impact contemporary representation and understanding of Native and Indigenous peoples in film today
Engage with nuanced conversations and academic scholarship about representation and understanding of Native and Indigenous peoples in film today
Apply academic research methods in discussion of Indigenous representation and participation in the American film industry
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
NANCY MITHLO is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2014. 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 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Nancy Mithlo
Students described this as one of the best online classes, highlighting the engaging film screenings and a positive overall learning experience.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.39 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=32 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.33 GPA, 79.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.33 GPA, 73.9% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Nancy Mithlo
The course involved watching interesting films and writing about them, with a difficulty rating of 1 out of 5.
Past student reviews · Nancy Mithlo
One student appreciated the grading and enjoyed the film content, stating they would take another class with the instructor anytime.
Topics
- History of Native and Indigenous representation in American film
- Films made by Native filmmakers
- Impact of historical representations on contemporary understanding
Skills
- Outlining the history of Native and Indigenous representation in American film
- Questioning long-held assumptions about Native America conveyed through film
- Applying academic research methods to discuss Indigenous representation in film
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
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.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
[]
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "9b4f48d7555703f24b7a66eff4e51f65f7997ec336f63e4ed94c3c6ceab7c924",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}