Message from the Chair

Chair, Randall Akee

Aloha kakou and welcome to the 2023-2024 academic year! My name is Randy Akee and I am an Associate Professor in American Indian Studies and the department of Public Policy. I also serve as the Chair of American Indian Studies this year after having spent the past year as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisors to President Biden in Washington, D.C.  I return to our newly established American Indian Studies Department (approved in Fall 2022) after many years of planning and coordinating efforts undertaken by our previous chairs Dr. Mishuana Goeman and Dr. Paul Kroskrity. We are all appreciative of their efforts and excited for this new era for our department, faculty, students, community members and staff.

Our curriculum is designed and taught by a distinguished and interdisciplinary faculty who collaborate with more than 20 different Native communities and countless community organizations. As much as the American Indian Studies Department at UCLA is devoted to the study of Indigenous peoples, as a land grant institution we are committed to directly engaging with and working for the Indigenous peoples of California and beyond. Among them, we have a particular commitment to the Tongva as the taraaxatom (Indigenous peoples) of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands).

We are encouraged by the continuing support for our students via recently announced Native American Opportunity Plan which covers all in-state systemwide Tuition and Student Services Fees for our students residing in California who are also enrolled in federally recognized Native American, American Indian, and Alaskan Native tribes. (This plan applies to undergraduate and non-self-supported graduate students). To complement this initiative, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria will provide scholarship support to members of California Indian Tribes that are not federally recognized. These exciting opportunities help to increase the access and affordability of higher education in the University of California system.

We embark on this academic year with a renewed sense of the power and importance of scholarship in shaping research, teaching and giving voice to and strengthening communities. We anticipate a return to in-person seminars and welcoming esteemed and distinguished guests to our campus. Our investments in AIS’s undergraduate Major and Minor programs and its MA program are more important than ever. I am happy to welcome you all to our department and our wide array of courses and activities that continue to build upon the strong legacy of UCLA’s AIS program begun more than 50 years ago.

Faculty Statement for Justice

As leaders of academic units at UCLA dedicated to social justice, we stand in solidarity with those in Los Angeles and throughout the country fighting to end state violence against African Americans, Indigenous peoples, Latinx, Asian, and other communities of color. – Read more

Joint Statement – NALSA, AIGSA, AISA, AIA

June 5, 2020

As leaders of Native and Indigenous student and alumni organizations at UCLA, we condemn the state and police violence against our Black relatives. We write to affirm our commitment to social justice and stand in solidarity with our Black community in UCLA, Tovaangar and all unceded territories. – Read more

Student Resources

RAIN

Retention of American Indians Now! (RAIN) providing comprehensive support services to all students on-campus in order to address a wide variety of needs: academic, personal, social, cultural, and spiritual.

AIR

American Indian Recruitment (AIR) is in the service of serving Native students and providing resources to essentially support the journey to a quality higher education.

Admissions

Ranked among the top programs in American Indian Studies (AIS), the Master of Arts degree, interdepartmental program at UCLA draws  from a wide variety of departments; students choose an area of concentration (History/Law/Policy, Economic Development, Social Relations or Language/Literature/Expressive Arts), acquiring skills that will enable them to conduct original research through the mentorship of over 27 AIS affiliated UCLA faculty.

Click here to learn more about the admissions process.