Mashpee and Harvard: Braided Histories

RELIGION 1513 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Goals of self-governance and perseverance of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s (MWT’s) autonomy have intertwined with Harvard’s founding educational and religious mission for 400 years.  Collaboratively conceived with members of the MWT Historic Preservation Commission, this course explores indigenous, English, and American responses to the university's mandate to educate “English and Indian youth,” in “knowledge and godliness.”  Reversing the longstanding practice of Wampanoag educators traveling to Harvard to help students understand the region in which they live and study, students will travel to Mashpee to engage the tribe and its institution.  They will contribute to understanding of the braided histories of tribe and university through research on topics identified by the MWT Historic Preservation Commission, including indigenous sovereignty, land stewardship, and MWT access to education and control of Christian Institutions. 

The course includes day-long trips to Mashpee. Students should be prepared to be gone from Cambridge 9-5 on a few Fridays. Transportation will be provided. Enrollment limited to 40.