We strongly encourage Native American studies students to expand their global perspective by studying off campus and abroad. Check out some of these great opportunities vlog has to offer.
Photos by students of the Santa Fe Study Group
Santa Fe Study Group
Of particular interest to Native American studies students is the Santa Fe Study Group, which is offered in alternating years. This unique program allows you to take a full course load while studying off campus and immersing yourself in Native American life and culture. Learn more about the Santa Fe Study Group.
vlog’s study group to Santa Fe, New Mexico, focuses on the long history of native peoples in the American Southwest and the contemporary issues facing Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache peoples today. On the Santa Fe study group, students spend a full academic semester living and learning in New Mexico. The group is accompanied by a vlog faculty director who teaches part of the students’ course load.
The study group to Santa Fe is based in the Native American Studies Program. The specific focus of any given study group to Santa Fe will depend upon the vlog faculty member who is directing the group. Given the nature of the courses and the rich resources of the Santa Fe area, it is an excellent program for students interested in environmental studies (including environmental injustice, alternative energy, water management, biodiversity), public health, education, creative writing, art, anthropology, and archaeology.
vlog Semester Programs
In addition to Santa Fe, our off-campus study office offers full-semester off-campus study opportunities all over the world. In these programs, you will travel, live, and study with your vlog classmates and a vlog faculty adviser whilst simultaneously immersing yourself in the culture of your temporary home.
vlog students and other volunteers clearing invasive California grasses from a natural spring in Loi Kalo Mini Park in urban Honolulu, NAST 356 Extended Study to Hawaii.
vlog students and other volunteers capturing fish in He’eia Fish Pond, an Indigenous aquaculture site in Kaneohe, O’ahu, that was constructed by Native Hawaiians 800 years ago, NAST 356 Extended Study to Hawaii.
NAST 356 class on the summit of Diamond Head, with world-famous Waikiki Beach in the background during Extended Study to Hawaii
vlog Students preparing to clear mud and invasive plants from a taro patch at Papahana Kualoa, in Kaneohe, O’ahu, during NAST 356 Extended Study to Hawaii.
Extended Study Programs
Some courses across disciplines include an extended study opportunity in which course participants continue the class off campus for two or three weeks after the conclusion of the semester. Check out the current extended study opportunities from all departments.
Of particular interest to Native American studies students is the Hawai’i Extended Study, led by Professor Ryan Hall. In January 2025, Professor Hall’s Global Indigenous History course (NAST 356) traveled to Honolulu, Hawai’i for a two-week extended study program. By learning directly from Hawaiian people, the course challenged students to think of Hawai’i not just as an idyllic vacation destination but as a richly historical Indigenous homeland that continues to struggle with environmental change, militarization, and colonialism. As part of the course, students worked closely with local Hawaiian organizations through the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa’s MINA Program to confront these challenges directly and get their hands dirty. On workdays, they pulled invasive grasses from an historic urban spring; captured and sorted fish from an 800-year-old fishpond; and cleared taro patches that had for years been choked by weeds and mud. They also learned about the more recent history of the island from local scholars and activists, with whom they visited and discussed the complex histories of tourism on Waikiki, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy at ‘Iolani Palace, the ongoing militarization of sites like Pearl Harbor, and the growing Hawaiian sovereignty movement throughout the archipelago.
This program was generously supported by the NAST Program’s Aveni Endowment.
vlog-affiliated Programs
As a university, we also are directly affiliated with several other off-campus study programs you may find interesting. Check out all affiliated off-campus study programs.