American Indian and Indigenous Studies Programs move from College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to College of Arts and Sciences
September 23, 2026
Summary of CAPP review of “Plan to Move the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program from CALS to CAS”
Tom Pepinsky (chair)
September 22, 2026
Overview
CAPP was asked to review the planned move of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program from CALS to CAS.
Summary of CAPP Review
CAPP members expressed unanimous support for this plan. Noting the strong AIISP faculty and administrative support for the move, there was no objection voiced to the plan itself.
However, several CAPP members raised important questions about AIISP’s staffing needs. Like many units that are already housed in CAS, AIISP suffers from a lack of administrative support. Several CAPP members indicated that AIISP needs staff, and that the move from CALS to CAS raises questions about the long-term viability of the program without greater attention to staffing needs.
Other members noted that AIISP does not have lines, so cannot hire on its own, and that the retirement of several AIISP-affiliated faculty from CALS has negatively affected the program’s ability to engage with indigenous agriculture and other fields that sit more centrally in CALS. Finally, CAPP members asked about support for faculty who teach indigenous languages of Central New York.
To: Committee on Academic Programs & Policies (CAPP)
Re: Change in college of administration for the American Indian & Indigenous Studies program (AIISP) from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
Effective Date: January 1, 2027
Dear members of CAPP,
By virtue of the charge of the CAPP and its oversight of academic programs, this is formal notification of the plan to move oversight of the American Indian & Indigenous Studies program from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), to College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The faculty in the program voted in support of this change as detailed below:
- Core/jointly appointed faculty: all 5 yes
- Teaching faculty: all 7 yes
- Affiliate faculty: 5 yes with 1 missing vote
By this change CAS will assume primary responsibility for all aspects of the academic activities of the program including:
- AIIS courses (see below)
- AIIS undergraduate minor
- AIIS graduate minor
- Faculty evaluation and support
- Curriculum management
Disposition of AIISP faculty:
No transfer of faculty or change in tenure locus will occur as a result of the change in oversight of AIISP. Current faculty remain affiliated with the primary college of affiliation as listed below:
Core/jointly appointed faculty in AIISP:
Kurt Jordan, Professor, Anthropology (CAS)
Karim-Aly Kassam, Professor, Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment, (CALS)
Paul Nadasdy, Professor, Anthropology (CAS)
Troy Richardson (Saponi, Ska:rù:rę’/Tuscarora), Associate Professor, Philosophy of Education, Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment (CALS)
Jolene K. Rickard, (Ska:rù:rę’/Tuscarora) Associate Professor, History of Art, Art, (CAS and AAP)
Other faculty include 7 “teaching faculty” and another 6 “affiliate faculty”.
Students: All students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate minors will remain enrolled in the program and experience no change to degree requirements unless approved through established curriculum processes.
Course Offerings (with Cross Listings):
| Undergraduate courses: | |||
| AIIS 1100 | AMST 1600, ANTHR 1700 | Indigenous North America | |
| AIIS 1110 | AMST 1601 | Indigenous Issues in Global Perspectives | |
| HIST 1950 | LATA 1950 | The Invention of the Americas | |
| AIIS 2350 | ANTHR 2235, AMST 2350, ARKEO 2235 | Archaeology of Indigenous North America | |
| AIIS 2420 | ANTHR 2420, BSOC 2420 | Nature | |
| AIIS 2600 | AMST 2600, ENGL 2600 | Introduction to Native American Literature | |
| AIIS 2660 | HIST 2660, AMST 2660 | Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong: Unlearning Native American History | |
| AIIS 2720 | ANTHR 2720, ARKEO 2720, AMST 2729 | From the Swampy Land: Indigenous People of the Ithaca Area | |
| AIIS 3324 | LING 3324 | Cayuga Language and Culture | |
| AIIS 3325 | LING 3325 | Cayuga Language and Culture II | |
| AIIS 3330 | NTRES 3330, AMST 3330 | Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Place | |
| AIIS 3422 | ANTHR 3422 | Culture, Politics, and Environment in the Circumpolar North | |
| AIIS 3560 | AMST 3562, ENGL 3560 | Thinking from a Different Place: Indigenous Philosophies | |
| AIIS 4000 | Critical Approaches to American Indian and Indigenous Studies: Intellectual History | ||
| AIIS 4200 | AMST 4220, PHIL 4941 | Locke and the Philosophies of Dispossession: Indigenous America’s Interruptions and Resistances | |
| AIIS 4300 | Indigenous Peoples and Decolonial Philosophies | ||
| AIIS 4450 | Settler Colonialism And The Elimination of the Native | ||
| AIIS 4625 | ENGL 4625, AMST 4627 | Contemporary Native American Fiction | |
| AIIS 4670 | The Indigenous Poetry of Resistance | ||
| AIIS 4970 | taken with an AIIS faculty supervisor | Independent Study | |
| Graduate courses: | |||
| AIIS 6000 | Critical Approaches to American Indian and Indigenous Studies: Intellectual History | ||
| AIIS 6010 | American Indian and Indigenous Studies Speaker Series | ||
| AIIS 6200 | AMST 6220, PHIL 6941 | Locke and the Philosophies of Dispossession: Indigenous America’s Interruptions and Resistances | |
| AIIS 6240 | LING 6248, AMST 6240 | Native American Languages | |
| AIIS 6300 | Indigenous Peoples and Decolonial Philosophies | ||
| AIIS 6970 | Independent Study in American Indian and Indigenous Studies | ||
Text from Dean Loewen, Dean Houlton, and Vice Provost August:
We are writing to inform you that Cornell’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) will transition its administrative home from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). AIISP courses and staffing will remain unchanged, and we anticipate faculty growth in the coming years.
This transition, supported by an overwhelming vote of the program faculty, acknowledges that the majority of AIISP faculty are already appointed in CAS departments.
AIISP will maintain integral interdisciplinary collaborations, with CAS building upon CALS’ decades-long investment in Indigenous scholarship, students, and engagement. The transition also reaffirms Cornell’s institutional commitment to Indigenous communities, which includes Akwe:kon, one of the nation’s first student residences halls to celebrate American Indian culture and heritage.
AIISP course offerings and programming will be unaffected by the switch to CAS, and the AIISP offices will remain in Caldwell Hall for the foreseeable future. Administrative staffing for AIISP will be transitioned to CAS. Student support services will be maintained and provided centrally from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student and Campus Life to facilitate a more comprehensive university-wide approach for supporting Indigenous communities at Cornell.
AIISP will continue to draw strength from cross-campus collaborations, including strong partnerships with CALS and CAS faculty, researchers, students, and community-engaged programs. Both CALS and CAS are dedicated to ensuring the continued success of AIISP and to advancing Indigenous scholarship across the university.
Cornell’s commitment to Indigenous peoples, communities, histories, knowledge systems, and futures extends across colleges, disciplines, and missions. That resolve remains steadfast, and we look forward to supporting AIISP’s continued success.
Sincerely,
Peter Loewen, Harold Tanner Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
Ben Houlton, Ronald P. Lynch Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Avery August, Deputy Provost
.