CURRICULUM

NAU has a Diversity Curriculum requirement for all NAU students which was approved by the Faculty Senate, the Provost, and the University Curriculum Committee.

Diversity Curriculum can be found both within targeted programs such as those listed below and within individual department offerings that complement any program.

Applied Indigenous Studies

The Applied Indigenous Studies (AIS) major in the AIS department of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences combines contemporary tribal management skills with respect for indigenous culture, knowledge, values, and beliefs. The historical development of tribal self-determination and its impact on indigenous peoples provides the foundation for the AIS major.

Asian Studies

An interdisciplinary minor in Asian Studies consists of six courses selected in consultation with an Asian Studies advisor. Each student takes courses from 3 different disciplines in the minor which include Anthropology, Art History, Geography, History, Humanities, Modern Language, Political Science, Religious Studies, and Theatre.

Communication Sciences and Disorders

The Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders in the School of Health Professions aims to advance knowledge and practice in human communication and its disorders; to prepare students to lead in the professions of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology; and to enable all individuals to communicate, read and write, think and learn, in order to succeed in a changing world.

Community, Culture, and Environment

The program in Community, Culture and Environment offers opportunities for cooperation and learning that go beyond the university. Encouraging diverse stakeholders to work together in cooperative ways, the program supports interactive learning that involves the leaders of community and cultural organizations with citizens and students. Workshops, symposia, exhibitions, issue forums and other sponsored activities provide opportunities for citizens to engage each other in collaborative teaching-learning.

Diversity, University Requirement
Complementing the Liberal Studies Program, is a university requirement of coursework in US Ethnic Diversity and Global Awareness.

Elementary Spanish Program

Everything you need to start learning Spanish is ready and waiting for you from the award-winning Elementary Spanish programs created by Educational Systems Programming at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. These innovative distance learning programs are easy to implement, cost-effective, and open the door to the exciting world of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures for young people. Current programs and products include: Elementary Spanish for Grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 on videotape or DVD for Schools, educación española for Grades 7 and 8 on DVD for schools, and cultural videos.

Ethnic Studies Program

The Ethnic Studies minor/Emphasis in Ethnic Studies introduces students to theoretical and critical analyses of race and ethnicity. In this minor/emphasis, students explore the ways in which these categories have historically evolved, their relationships to power and inequality, and their intersections with gender, sexuality, class, and culture. ES coursework is comparative and interdisciplinary and offers essential perspectives on four underrepresented groups—African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicano(as)/Latino(as), and Native Americans.

Latin American Studies Program

To help develop cultural awareness and cultural diversity at the university and in society, the Latin American Studies Committee focuses on ties between the Southwest, the border regions, and Latin America. The committee promotes lectures, films, performing arts, and other cultural events related to Latin America. These activities provide students and the greater Flagstaff community with information on Latin American arts and culture, history, politics, economics, and environmental issues.

Liberal Studies Program

The Liberal Studies Program prepares students to live responsible, productive and creative lives as citizens of a dramatically changing world.  Coursework helps students gain a deeper understanding of the natural environment and the world’s peoples, explore the traditions and legacies that have created the dynamics and tensions that shape the world, examine their potential contributions to society, and determine their own places in that world. Thirty five credit hours of Liberal Studies are required of all students seeking their first baccalaureate degree from Northern Arizona University.

Martin Springer Institute

The mission of the Institute is to apply the lessons of the Holocaust to promote Moral Courage, Altruism and Tolerance. The Institute achieves this mission by providing opportunities for K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, university professors, and those who teach in informal settings to learn content and methods appropriate to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust, altruism, moral courage, and tolerance. The Institute aids in developing curricula for teaching the lessons of the Holocaust, moral courage, altruism, and tolerance, and provides a resource center with related materials. In addition, the Institute organizes commemorative events to bear witness to the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Minor in Disability Studies

The undergraduate  Minor in Disability Studies explores the role of disability in society today and how society’s concept of normalcy has shaped perceptions of disability. Students will build a firm realization that disability can be understood as one facet of human diversity. By pursuing foundational knowledge of the rapidly emerging field of disability studies, students will learn to think critically about the ways in which disabled persons have experienced inequality and oppression.

Minor in Queer Studies

The Minor in Queer Studies examines issues in the lives of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and allied) individuals in the context of gender, race, class, nation, ability, and age. In Queer Studies you will gain academic knowledge of local, national, and global experiences concerning LGBTQI lives and Queer theory. You will learn about social movements, artistic and cultural contributions, political oppression and resistance, medical issues, and literatures across time and place.

Modern Languages

The Department of Modern Languages offers communicative competence and cultural awareness in nine modern languages–French, German, Spanish, Navajo, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian–as well as Latin. It hosts a number of special programs such as the MODL film series and the Spanish MAT. It also houses a state of the art computer facility for second language acquisition.

Program Intensive English

NAU’s Program in Intensive English (PIE) prepares international students for university success.  Each year 65-70 students from over 12 countries bring the richness of their cultures to the NAU community. The program specializes in academic English preparation and support. In addition to language, PIE students learn study skills that are essential for successful performance at university levels. A major benefit of attending the PIE is that degree-seeking students are automatically admitted to NAU after successfully completing the PIE and achieving satisfactory English proficiency. PIE students have access to all university services and activities, including e-mail, libraries, computer services, recreational facilities, social activities, dormitories and student health services.

Women’s and Gender Studies

NAU’s Women’s Studies Program is interdisciplinary, with a particular focus on gender and the Colorado Plateau, US ethnic and indigenous women, and transnational feminisms. The program organizes yearly all-women Women on the Rapids trips on the Colorado and San Juan rivers, cross-lists classes with the Department of Applied Indigenous Studies and the Ethnic Studies Program, works closely with affiliated faculty across five colleges and 22 departments, programs and offices, and offers discipline-based and Women’s Studies courses that balance theory and activism, the local and the global, the humanities and social sciences, and the classroom and the natural world.