VCU offering new minor in Native American and Indigenous studies

By Sian Wilkerson

Virginia Commonwealth University students can expand their knowledge of Native and Indigenous histories, cultures and contemporary issues through a new program that debuts this fall.

The multidisciplinary minor in Native American and Indigenous studies, offered through the College of Humanities and Sciences, reflects VCU’s growing spotlight on the centrality of Indigenous peoples, their contributions and their ongoing presence in America and Virginia, including on the land VCU calls home.

The minor originated as an initiative of the One VCU Land Acknowledgement Task Force, which was created in 2022 to identify ways to build meaningful relationships with all 11 state-recognized tribal nations. The task force produced a universitywide land acknowledgement that was formally adopted by the Board of Visitors in 2024, as well as a set of recommendations for the university to strengthen its relationships with Virginia tribal nations.

Building on that work, Marcus Messner, Ph.D., executive associate dean for strategic initiatives and academic affairs with the college, and HRC Director Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., worked together to develop the minor, with support from the Indigenous Humanities Lab at VCU’s Humanities Research Center, which made the creation of the minor a primary goal during the last academic year.

The minor incorporates courses from across the humanities and sciences, including anthropology, English, history, sociology and linguistics. The offerings include two new humanities courses: HUMS 260, which is an introduction to Native American and Indigenous studies, and HUMS 394, a topics course.

"The new minor in Native American and Indigenous studies demonstrates what can be achieved through strong multidisciplinary collaboration in our College of Humanities and Sciences," Messner said. "It is great to see that several of our departments came together to not only support the creation of this minor but also to enable a strong foundation for it with the creation of two new courses in this area. I am certain there will be great interest from our students in this new minor."

For VCU alum Kameron Jones, who served as an undergraduate on the land acknowledgment task force before graduating in 2023, seeing the new minor come to fruition is special.

“Creating this minor gives Native students the chance to see their history and culture reflected in higher education,” said Jones, a descendant of the Meherrin Indian Tribe. “It also gives non-Native students the opportunity to build a knowledge base so they leave VCU with a clearer, more nuanced understanding of that history and current tribal successes and challenges.”

Launched last year through a partnership between HRC and the College of Humanities and Sciences, the Indigenous Humanities Lab – led by co-directors Stanciu, Sarah Montoya, Ph.D., and Christina Davis, M.Ed. – serves as a collaborative hub for advancing Indigenous scholarship, pedagogy and community engagement at VCU and in the community. One of 10 humanities labs at the HRC, the lab’s creation was supported by an 18-month, $150,000 grant awarded by the Mellon Foundation and written by Stanciu and Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D., dean of the college.

"This minor was built with our students in mind, giving them a structured path to engage deeply with Native American and Indigenous studies alongside faculty who are already doing meaningful research in this field,” Ingrassia said. “It reflects our college's commitment to offering academic opportunities that are both intellectually rigorous and attentive to histories that have too often been overlooked. We're proud to bring this new area of study to the College of Humanities and Sciences."

As Montoya, a postdoctoral fellow with the HRC, noted, the hope is that the new minor will “build a more robust infrastructure for tribal engagement.” She continued, “The minor invites students to take interdisciplinary courses, deepen their understanding of Indigenous peoples and their own relationships to land, and encourages them to translate their learning into meaningful community engagement.”

“We have an opportunity to design this minor in a way that reflects what VCU is about: As VCU is moving in the right direction to formalize relationships with tribal nations in the area, I think our students would benefit from those relationships,” Stanciu said. And “the tribes will benefit from those relationships in terms of interactions with the students but also making those relationships reciprocal.”

In addition to the minor, VCU’s related efforts include the On Native Ground initiative, part of the HRC. Launched in 2021, the initiative aims to make visible Indigenous histories while working with local tribes to establish a strong network for Native communities and scholarship at the university. Among its elements are the Karenne Wood Native Artist/Writer Residency Program and the Indigenous Elder in Residence Program, as well as a partnership with Pocahontas Reframed, the only Native film festival on the East Coast.

As the minor continues to grow, Davis, an instructor, interdisciplinary studies advisor and doctoral student, anticipates continued opportunities for student research and community engagement. Davis, whose heritage includes multiple Native tribes, noted that Indigenous perspective is being reflected in collaborations with the VCU Rice Rivers Center, the MCV Campus and in assessing issues related to agriculture, natural resources, land rights, sovereignty and more.

“Not only are we educating our students, but there is that need beyond our students,” Davis said. “Hopefully we can start with our students and then create more programming and classes and courses for them to understand how tribal law is just as important as state and federal law, and the ways these legal systems intersect.”

To Jones, the 2023 alum, “the minor is not a finish line – it’s another step in a process and a long journey,” she said, adding that she would like to see a similar major at VCU. “I hope that students take advantage of this minor and the opportunity to not just learn but operationalize a new understanding of community, identity and reciprocity.”