Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - IS 308 D200

Global Indigenous Futures (4)

Class Number: 3306

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Thu, 8:30–11:20 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines how Indigenous communities globally reclaim space and sovereignty, confront colonial violence, and envision pluralistic and more-than-human sovereign futures. Explores Indigenous knowledges, resistance to colonialism, and futurisms across diverse global Indigenous contexts. Students who have taken IS 319 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

Global Indigenous Futures lies at the intersection of Indigenous knowledges, futurisms, and resistance to coloniality. Drawing on Indigenous and decolonial perspectives from across the world, we will engage with theories of Indigenous sovereignty, relationality, and world-making to envision pasts, presents, and futures grounded in Indigenous cosmologies and lifeways. Through readings, discussions, and collaborative projects, students will examine how settler colonialism shapes territory, bodies, and resources while exploring how Indigenous peoples reclaim place, autonomy, and joy.

Challenging the notion of a singular, linear future, the course emphasizes resistance, resurgence, and the crucial role of Indigenous youth in shaping plural and more-than-human worlds. Students will complete digital projects that study and visualize how Indigenous peoples center community histories of solidarity, struggles for climate justice, and new forms of belonging. Central to the course is an examination of how memory grounds the envisioning of sovereign futures.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Describe aspects of Indigenous societies using analytical frameworks from Global Indigenous Studies.
  • Examine how Indigenous communities across the world engage with archives, memory, and storytelling as acts of both remembrance and future-making.
  • Analyze how transnational Indigenous conversations of resistance, resurgence, and solidarity emerge in response to dispossession and settler colonialism.
  • Evaluate ethical questions arising from the homogenized and hegemonic representations of Indigenous communities in global visual and digital media.

Grading

  • Engagement and attendance 15%
  • Positionality statement 5%
  • Group class discussion facilitation 20%
  • Reflection essay 20%
  • Research proposal 40%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All readings will be available on Canvas.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2021. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Third edition. Zed Books.

Available through the SFU Library: https://sfu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/15tu09f/01SFUL_ALMA21401326840003611

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.