American Studies 4500-01 / Religious Studies 4500-06 is a field based course that travels to Heart Mountain, WY. This field course, which takes place in and near Cody, Wyoming, provides students with an interdisciplinary study of the significance of Heart Mountain, a prominent landmark representing layers of geology, prehistory and history focusing on its cultural importance to Plains Indians, Japanese-Americans interned at Heart Mountain during World War II and homesteader veterans who arrived here after the war. Students will have the opportunity to physically experience and Intellectually appreciate the power this mountain has exerted on inhabitants of the area, learning to see more clearly the interrelationships of these communities. Instructors Dr. Mary Keller from Religious Studies and Mary Humstone from American Studies will place the mountain in a larger context through daily field excursions to sites such as the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and Interpretive Learning Center, Chief Plenty Coups museum in Edgar, Montana, and the Bighorn Medicine Wheel. Special events include participating in the Relocation Center's annual pilgrimage and ceremony to commemorate the Japanese American experience and a three-day Crow cultural restoration project including seminar, field day, and traditional Pipe Ceremony. Working individually or in groups, students will synthesize what they learn through field work, guest lecturers and research into their own cultural geography reports.
