The Indigenous Studies Program at McGill University was established in 2014 in response to years of research, reflection, and activism on the part of students at McGill and the Indigenous communities on campus.
Welcome to the Indigenous Studies Program!
Launched in 2014, the Indigenous Studies Program grew from years of research, reflection, and activism by students and Indigenous communities on campus. Housed in the Faculty of Arts Indigenous Institute for Research and Knowledges (FAIIRK), it is currently offered as a minor, with plans to expand into a major.
Our courses centre Indigenous knowledge systems and their methodologies, norms, and expectations. Students take an interdisciplinary path through the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of Indigenous life on Turtle Island (North America), engaging Indigenous studies as a stand-alone field. Core courses and community partnerships emphasize reciprocity and learning from within Indigenous societies.
In a short time, the program has become a hub for Indigenous community engagement at McGill. Through public events, outreach projects, and the Indigenous Knowledge Holder Series, the program brings students, scholars, and community members together to strengthen Indigenous initiatives on campus.
McGill University is on land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. We acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous peoples whose presence marks this territory on which peoples of the world now gather.
