The study of Native American and Indigenous religions is primarily focused on peoples in the Americas, their cultures, worldviews and rituals in the contexts of the long histories of colonialism, resistance, and hybridity. Emphasis in the graduate study of Native American and indigenous traditions is on the modern and contemporary moment, with particular attention to issues of race, ethnicity, movement, material culture, and sovereignty. Students in this concentration are expected to complete coursework that is historical, theoretical, and linguistic. Students may find it useful to connect Native American and indigenous traditions to the department’s strengths in American religion and Christian studies, as well as take advantage of affiliated faculty across the UCSB campus (Chicano Studies, History, Linguistics, Art History etc.).
Faculty in the concentration:
Rudy V. Busto, Associate Professor – Race and ethnic studies, Chicanx traditions and indigeneity, classical Mexican religion, Filipino and Filipino American indigeneity, religious change under colonialism, American religions
Greg Johnson, Professor and Director of the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life – law and religion in contexts of indigenous struggles over burial protection, repatriation, and sacred land; Hawaiian and Native American traditions, emerging forms of global indigeneity
