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Northern Plains Studies at Augustana College

Northern Plains Studies Minor (18-19 hours)

Anthropology 270 (Introduction to Archaeology)--Dr. Adrien Hannus

Anthropology 271 (Cultural Anthropology)--Dr. Adrien Hannus

Anthropology 397 (Prehistory of the Northern Plains)--Dr. Adrien Hannus

Biology 180 (Environmental Science)

English 200 (Introduction to Literary Genres: Northern Plains)--Dr. Debbie Hanson

English 340 (Native American Literature)--Dr. Debbie Hanson

History 120 (American History to 1877)

History 121 (American History since 1877)

History 303 (History of the American West)--Dr. Michael Mullin

History/Native American Studies 352 (History of the Lakota and Dakota)--Dr. Michael Mullin

Independent Study and Internships in archives, art, and museum studies

Native American Studies 320 (Native American Social Systems)--Dr. WilliamSwart

Northern Plains Studies/History 202 (South Dakota and the World)--Dr. Michael Mullin

Northern Plains Studies 397 (Unlocking the Archives: The Search for Authenticity)--Dr. Harry Thompson (cross-listed with Anthropology and History)

Northern Plains Studies 397 (Finding the Great Plains)--Dr. Harry Thompson (cross-listed with Anthropology and History)

A New South Dakota History, 2nd Edition

The minor in Northern Plains Studies was first proposed by Dr. Harry F.Thompson, Center for Western Studies Executive Director, in his report to the Granskou Award Committee in 2003.  He saw the minor as a way to combine courses already being offered at Augustana, along the programs of the Archeology Lab and the Center for Western Studies, into a definable field of study.  Beginning in the fall of 2006, a group of interested faculty and administrators, called the Northern Plains Studies Planning Committee, met to discuss the details of how the proposed minor could be implemented.  Dr. Michael Mullin, Professor of History and NEH Chair in Regional Studies, worked with the college’s Curriculum Committee to obtain approval of the minor in October 2007.  Several courses have been developed recently to support the minor in Northern Plains Studies and the new major in Anthropology.  Dr. Thompson’s report, which provides a history of Augustana’s engagement with the region, is available as a pdf “Fulfilling Its Mission: Northern Plains Studies at Augustana College.”

Other Northern Plains Studies Programs at Augustana

The part of the American West that concerns the Center for Western Studies is the Great Plains, specifically the northern region of the Great Plains. We define this area as South Dakota and its contiguous states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana.  The Center’s founder, Augustana Professor of English and Writer-in-Residence Herbert Krause, conceived of this region as the center of the expansive American West.  In addition to working with faculty to develop the Northern Plains Studies minor, the Center for Western Studies offers the following contributions to regional studies:

Internships

Book Publishing

Dakota Conference on the Northern Plains

Artists of the Plains Art Show & Sale

Boe Forum on Public Affairs

Research by CWS staff

Pictured above is the Froiland Plains Indian Room, one of the Center's permanent exhibits.