this class was the easiest class I've ever taken and also an absolute joy. You need to either attend class or buy the course reader, you can do both and it's not bad, but most people got away with doing just one.

selling the course reader for $50, text me at (951) 966-7648

Class is super easy....depending on your TA.
This Class has one midterm and one Final. BOTH are take home essays :)

However, my TA decided we need 21 sources for our midterm, so that was kinda bad. All other TA's only required 7.....
BUY the COURSE READER or a pdf. It will come in handy for essay sources and quizzes.
Discussion is basically mandatory, but in a good way, it's like extra credit. TA's are your grader, so just kiss up and you'll be fine. Lectures are all over the place; just get through them.

Tldr:
Get Course reader (try to get pdf since it's so much cheaper)
Kiss up to TA for grade
Attend discussion
Attend Lecture
Do all of these and you'll def get an A

I'm writing this review under WL ARTS M23 and AM IND 10, since they're the same class.

Prof. Nabokov is a great professor. Kind, empathetic, funny, and pretty knowledgable about the material. Most of the lectures aren't from him though, as he brings in special guests for nearly every lecture who are experts in the field.

Attendance isn't mandatory for lecture, but I would just go because the midterm is an essay that requires you to have a decent idea of what's going on. Attendance is more or less mandatory for the discussion, since there might be pop quizzes and you'll need to turn in homework through discussion. Missing a few is fine, but let your TA know beforehand. I HIGHLY recommend Sedna Villavencio. She was a very sweet TA, was understanding of students, and from what I heard, was one of the more generous graders.

Grading scheme is as follows:
Film Reviews (3): 30% (10% each and due in discussion, one page double-spaced MAX)
Midterm Paper: 30%
Take-Home Final: 40% (Bunch of short answer questions and matching vocabulary terms)

From what I can tell, Prof. Nabokov and the TA's want you to get an A, and all you really need to do in return is care about the material/be respectful. If you just do the work, you'll most likely get an A. Your writing doesn't need to be good, but just include all of the information they want from you, and make sure you answer all of the requirements they ask of you.

I had a lot of personal issues that prevented me from being as diligent as I would have liked, but I talked to Prof. Nabokov and my TA, and they were both very understanding, so I can definitely speak to their kindness.

I enjoy the class. It taught me a lot about American Indians. I am selling the course reader for $85. It is extremely useful for writing the exams and essays because you are required to cite a certain number of sources from the texts. Please contact me at 310-592-9381 if you are interested.

BEST class in the world.
You don't need to go to lecture.
Once a week you have an easy 1 page write up.
You have a take home midterm and final.
I went to lectures I found interesting for fun.

Take this class, and take it with Damien Montano as your TA because he's amazing.

This was such a wonderful, life-changing class--definitely one I will never forget. You really don't realize how misinformed you are about Native Americans until taking this class, and it really is relevant to daily life. It was very interesting to learn about native cultures & traditions but I was most fascinated by the contemporary issues--especially a very good lecture on stereotypes of and the actual effects of casinos. The class is a midterm & a final plus two quizzes but it's totally do-able. The $160 course reader was a bit ridiculous but luckily you can do fine by just going to class every day and paying attention in discussion. Nabokov is very concerned about students & really wants everyone to succeed and just have a better understanding of natives. I got an A easily & was never really stressed about my grade. You won't regret taking this class--probably my favorite GE.