Consideration for program admission requires a bachelor’s degree, three letters of recommendation, official transcripts, writing sample (10 pages minimum, not to exceed 20 pages), curriculum vitae (CV), and Office of Graduate Studies online admissions and fellowship applications, with admissions fee by the stated admission deadline: December 1. A minimum GPA of 3.0 from the institution where you have earned or will earn your bachelor's degree is required for consideration. Admissions decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Meeting some or all of these criteria does not guarantee admission, but merely eligibility. The decision to recommend admission to the Dean of Graduate Studies will be made by the Program Admissions Committee on the basis of available space and the competitiveness of applicants compared to the eligible pool.
As a student applying to Native American Studies, you are bound to have many questions and concerns regarding the admissions process. To assist you in navigating this process, we have created these links. Many of the questions you have about applying to the Graduate Program in Native American Studies are found here.
Diversity Commitment
The graduate program in Native American Studies at UC Davis welcomes students from all backgrounds who are interested in pursuing the study of and with indigenous people of the Americas. The NAS graduate program values a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences among its students, knowing that a diverse student body strengthens the research, scholarship, and teaching of all members of our community. By its nature, the NAS graduate program addresses the diversity of indigenous peoples in the Americas through inter and multi-disciplinary approaches and perspectives. In our courses and in the training of our students, we address major issues of difference such as race/ethnicity, history, class, gender, sexuality, religion, language, and culture, to name some. A key aspect of this diversity is that each graduate student must fulfill a language requirement that involves the study of one indigenous language. We have a commitment to prepare our graduate students to be able to articulate this diversity in their scholarship and teaching, and to be able to interact with indigenous communities in an ethical and respectful manner. As a part of our commitment to diversity there are numerous resources, mentoring workshops, events, and professional staff positioned campus-wide to meet the needs of our graduate students as they achieve their professional, educational, and career goals.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Josephine Moreno at mjmoreno@ucdavis.edu, UC Davis’ Graduate Diversity Officer for Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education, with any questions or concerns regarding diversity in Graduate Studies. For the latest on Grad Diversity initiatives, please visit www.gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/diversity. The University of California Diversity Statement can be accessed at https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/uc-statement-diversity. The UC Davis campus-wide Principles of Community can be accessed at http://occr.ucdavis.edu/poc/.
For inquiries within Native American Studies, please contact Monica Shiel, Graduate Program Coordinator (mashiel@ucdavis.edu), for additional information.