Western Carolina University

Spring 2012

Cherokee History & Culture (required for the non-credit certificate)
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Course provides a general introduction to Cherokee culture and history with an emphasis on relationship to health and policy. The class also offers students an introduction to some of the major issues of the Cherokee and Native American studies literature. 

• Required Texts:  Eastern Band of Cherokees 1819-1900, by John R. Finger, Cherokee Americans, by John. R. Finger, History, Myths & Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, by James Mooney, and Eastern Band Cherokee Women by Virginia Moore Carney.
• Theda Perdue, Cherokee Women: Gender and Cultural Change (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998)
• Barbara Duncan and Brett Riggs, Cherokee Heritage Trails (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003)
• Sarah Hill, Weaving New Worlds (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997)

In addition to these books, there will be additional readings, available either as pdf documents through the WCU Hunter Library e-reserve system or as documents in html.  Short citations are used in the course schedule below; complete citations can be found at the end of this document.

Indigenous & Western Psychologies
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Epistemologies and world views of Southeastern Native peoples will be discussed in comparison with standard Western approaches to addressing behavioral health. Course will increase participant’s understanding of key elements involved in delivery of care that addresses needs of Native populations in behavioral health. This course introduces students to the history and current use of psychological models of self and community in a cross-cultural perspective. We will explore American Indian cultures and European-based psychological theories with particular attention to definitions of the “psyche” and “soul”, personality and group formation, spiritual, personal, and community health, and psycho-spiritual definitions of mental dis/ease and healing. Particular emphasis is placed on American Indian cultures of the Southeast. The course is designed from a multi-cultural perspective and integrates a diversity of genres and view-points, both secular and spiritual. Films, art work, and short stories supplement and illustrate theoretical issues.

Required Texts

• Eduardo Duran, Healing the Soul Wound: Counseling with American Indians and Other Native Peoples (2006)
• Theresa DeLeane O’Nell, Disciplined Hearts: History, Identity, and Depression in an American Indian Community (1996)
• T.M. Luhrmann, Of Two Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry (2000)
• Ethan Nebelkopf and Mary Phillips, Healing and Mental Health for Native Americans: Speaking in Red. (2004)

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Summer 2012

The Roots of Health Disparities in Native American Populations (3)
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Course will introduce students to the current debate and literature of the connection between genetic and environmental factors which must be considered in approaching contemporary health issues in Indian country.