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Certificate in American Indian & Indigenous Studies

Requirements
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Certificate in American Indian & Indigenous Studies

A Cer­tifi­cate in Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies is a way of giv­ing recog­ni­tion to stu­dents who have made a sig­nif­i­cant effort to learn about Native cul­ture and the role of Amer­i­can Indi­ans and Indigenous peoples in soci­ety. Stu­dents receiv­ing a cer­tifi­cate will have the achievement officially recorded via tran­script nota­tion.

What can I do with a certificate in Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies?

Students of Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies go on to suc­cess­ful careers in admin­is­tra­tion, advis­ing, aca­d­e­mics, advo­cacy, the arts, busi­ness, com­mu­nity out­reach, con­sult­ing, edu­ca­tion, gov­ern­ment, health or health edu­ca­tion, jour­nal­ism, library sci­ence, lit­er­acy pro­gram­ming, lob­by­ing, man­age­ment, pol­i­tics, pub­lish­ing, school coun­sel­ing, social work, research, and many more.

Certificate Requirements

Declare the Certificate

To receive a cer­tifi­cate in Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies, you must officially declare the Certificate and have it noted in your student record. Please submit the online application form below to begin the Certificate declaration process.

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Enroll in the AIIS Certificate Here

AIS 100: Required for all Students

All Certificate Students are required to take the 3-credit AIS 100: Introduction to Amer­i­can Indian Stud­ies. While this course is usually restricted to first-year students, AIIS Certificate students may enroll during any semester. Certificate Students can send their Student ID and requested discussion section to aiis@letsci.wisc.edu for permission to enroll.

15 Total Credits Required

The remaining 12 credits must come from at least two different study areas:

  • History
  • Literature and Media
  • Anthropology
  • American Indian Social and Cultural Issues
  • Environment
  • Languages
Learn more about our Language Courses

Other Requirements

  • ​Minimum 2.000 GPA on all certificate courses.
  • 6 credits may be taken as pass/fail. All other credits must be taken for a letter grade.
  • At least 8 certificate credits must be completed in residence.
  • The Cer­tifi­cate in Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies at the Uni­ver­sity of Wisconsin-Madison is open to spe­cial stu­dents and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents regard­less of the col­lege of enrollment.

Special Circumstances

Some courses not affiliated with AIIS may count towards your Certificate requirements if they contain at least 1/3 Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies content. Submit the Special Circumstances form linked below with class details, and the AIIS Advisor will determine course eligibility toward your Cer­tifi­cate in Amer­i­can Indian & Indigenous Stud­ies.

Special Circumstances Form
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“I recommend this certificate because it’s important that people learn about these topics and truly understand the issues and struggles that Indigenous communities face in society. I would use this certificate to work with Indigenous communities, my own and others, and then potentially go to law school.”
Kayla Maki, Certificate Student Alum

AIIS Cer­tifi­cate Advi­sors:

Denise Wiyaka – Senior Academic Advisor
Collin Rohrbaugh – Academic Advisor

To learn more about the AIIS Certificate, contact us at 608-263-5501 or aiis@letsci.wisc.edu, or visit our office in 4147 Levy Hall to speak with a staff member.