NAIITS is dedicated to equipping men and women for meaningful engagement within their own communities, other local cultural contexts as well as globally. The MA-INCD has been designed and tailored for Indigenous people, those serving in Indigenous communities and others simply interested in a non-Western approach to community development education. The MA-INCD focuses on a mutual learning exchange between cultures within and beyond North America. The program is multidisciplinary and strives to develop each participant’s heart and mind through the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, asset-based philosophy and development methods, as well as theology, ethics and spiritual formation.
54 Credit Hours earns you a Master of Arts in Indigenous Community Development
You will study with some of the finest Indigenous practitioners and scholars in the global context – women and men with earned experience to accompany the academics.
Courses include
This is a non-resident degree. Face-to-face time is during three weeks at the Annual NAIITS Symposium. Community is built through time in study cohorts, one-to-one mentorship with faculty and the Field Placement.
As we rebuild communities of wellness...
MA in Indigenous Community Development
| Program Application Fee * | Applicant resident in Canada Applicant resident in US or elsewhere |
$CAD 50 $USD 50 |
| Tuition per three credit hour course ** | Student resident in Canada Student resident in US or elsewhere |
$CAD 1000 $USD 1000 |
| Audit Fee per course ** | Auditor resident in Canada Auditor resident in US or elsewhere |
$CAD 500 $USD 500 |
* Application fee payable with on-line application.
** Tuition and audit fees payable at the time of course registration.
Course tuition includes library and technology costs.
Costs associated with attendance at the two required NAIITS Symposium events (registration, travel expenses, accommodation, and meals) are not included in course tuition. All costs remain the responsibility of the student.
After years of work and planning by Indigenous leaders experienced in theology and mission, NAIITTS has produced an andragogical (adult-focused) methodology that allows us to more effectively serve Indigenous persons admitted to the program.
Each academic year, a proportionate number of non-Indigenous students may be admitted to the program on a case-by-case basis.
Transfer of up to 27 hours of credit from accredited graduate schools is permitted into this program. Students must have achieved a grade of B- or higher for a course to be considered for transfer. In addition, only courses taken elsewhere within ten years of matriculation in this program will be considered for transfer. Transferability of credits earned in this program to another institution is at the discretion of the receiving institution. Any request of transfer of credits must be made at the time of application/admission.
Indigenous academic leaders have designed and tailored this degree for Indigenous people and those serving in indigenous communities. More than 80% of professors in the program are Indigenous scholars and practitioners with doctoral degrees from a wide range of universities and seminaries. Students will learn from professors who are engaged in their own Indigenous communities and are committed followers of Jesus. The NAIITS faculty are passionate about providing graduate-level theological education for Indigenous individuals and communities.
Courses are available in flexible, accessible formats. Online-hybrid options allow students to live in home community. Intensive summer courses provide face-to-face classroom experience. Wrap-around conference courses related to the NAIITS Annual Symposium stimulate learning. Elective courses allow students to further tailor the program to their own learning and ministry environment.
Students will join with colleagues who are working in Indigenous contexts and will grow in leadership capacity as relationships are built. The program will provide one-to-one experiences and small-group mentorship.
Further details may be found in the Student Handbook and annual Academic Calendar which can be requested from admissions@naiits.com
Hebrew Scripture Foundations
A general introduction to the historical, sociological, and theological context in which the Hebrew Scriptures came into existence, this course will provide the student with an understanding of the major emphases of the texts. In addition, the student will be introduced to themes of community life and praxis in the Hebrew Scriptures that find parallels in historical Indigenous worldviews of creation and Creator. The course will use community understandings, models and paradigms as a basis for comparison.
New Testament Foundations
A general introduction to the historical, sociological, and theological context in which the New Testament Scriptures came into existence, this course will familiarize students with the content and structure, distinctive theology, and introductory matters of the New Testament. in addition, the student will be introduced to the nature of the early Christian community, its transitions and changes from a strictly Hebraic construct as found within the Jewish community, and projections made for its future development.
Community Models in Scripture
This course is a theological and exegetical exploration of how the Scriptures speak about community, how they present and promote particular values and praxis of community, and what examples of community appear in both testaments. This understanding is critical to any program focused through the lens of a biblically-informed worldview. Finally, the course will seek to enable understanding of the nature of community in the early church and its implications, if any, on our thinking about the holistic development of community within the Kingdom of God.
Theology I: Indigenous Perspectives
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the tasks and tools of Christian theology, including the development of a common theological vocabulary, so as to understand the nature of Christian faith and acquire the capacity to converse with others in shared terms. An introduction to Indigenous theological terminology will be introduced in the latter part of the course as a bridge to THEO 6503 Theology II: Theology and Ethic of the Land.
Theology II: Theology and Ethic of the Land
During this course students will be immersed in the wider creation in a retreat context with reading prior to and following the retreat. The experience of the beauty and hope of God as immanent within creation will be considered through Indigenous understandings of the land, and the relationship between science and faith. Students will engage current issues such as agriculture, conservation, land use and consumption of natural resources, gaining an understanding of the dual expressions of Indigenous and Hebrew constructs of shalom through which God blesses creation.
Ethics in Intercultural Context (Directed Reading and Research)
This course is an intercultural, contextual introduction to central issues in Christian ethics, with attention to the way in which moral reflection interacts with philosophy and culture. The course explores biblical-theological foundations for ethics, the role of scripture and Jesus’ example in ethical formulation, and deals with major contemporary topics including gender, sexuality, marriage, euthanasia, war, bioethics, wealth and poverty.
Creation and Transformation (Directed Reading and Research)
The centre of Christian theology is Jesus Christ in whom is united Creator and creation. This course will focus on the scriptural and ecclesiastical traditions concerning the person and work of Christ in transforming creation alongside Indigenous understandings of the Creator/creation relationship. This will provide the basis for a discussion about the implication of Christology for the transformation of the creation community through each lens. Thus, the course will seek to engage the ideas represented by the councils, and creeds of past theologians, and then move to examine the theological praxis that resulted in colonial and post-colonial contexts.
Indigenous Research and Writing
This course covers all aspects of research and writing at an academic level. The student develops their voice as an academic writer by learning how to identify and use rhetorical strategies in writing. The course will also explore the specific needs or concerns of Indigenous writing and research methods including protocol. Other topics covered are: proper citation and bibliography formatting, grammar, crafting solid thesis statements, building a line of reasoning and other organizational strategies of formal research papers, finding and interacting with quality primary sources and how to synthesize and interact with secondary sources in an academic essay.
Indigenous Symposium Seminars
In order to foster deeper relationship, more effective academic engagement, and an overall greater involvement within the NAIITS community, students are required to attend two symposia as they progress through their studies. They will be required to participate in the concurrent seminar, and complete required assignments. Students will only register for the course at the time of their second Symposium following which, grades assigned to first and second Symposium work will be recorded.
Indigenous Practice of Andragogy
Andragogy is the study of methods, epistemologies, philosophies and contextual understandings of education that pertain to and enhance an adult-focused learning environment. This course will introduce the student to andragogical method as a theological framework and a contextual teaching practice, exploring the theological, philosophical, and pragmatic underpinnings of teaching. The course will also introduce the student to a variety of strategies to advance their development as a teacher.
Indigenous Spirituality and Formation
Indigenous understandings of the nature of the spiritual and of spirituality differ in many respects from those commonly held within Western traditions of Christian faith. The focus of the course, therefore, is to introduce the student to the ways in which Indigenous people participate as followers of Jesus in a manner that is authentic to their own cultural understandings, seeking to encourage spiritual growth and development from within such an Indigenous framework. This course will also discuss the appropriation of what has been perceived to be Indigenous spirituality by non-Indigenous people as well as a brief focus on what can be effectively learned from Indigenous understandings of the spiritual.
Asset-based Development
The course is an introduction to asset-based planning and design as a human and organizational capacity-building approach. Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) seeks to locate, underscore, and emphasize, in a selective way, the life-giving forces and successes within an organization, group, or community. The course will focus on different ways of engaging life within communities and organizations, while exploring the skills of community development facilitation for practitioners. Several tools used in asset-based planning and development will be carefully examined with a view to creating proficiency in both their theory and practice.
Theory and Praxis in Development – History and Method
This course begins with a brief examination of historic relief and development theories, focusing in on a more careful examination of post WWII models and their evolution through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s toward the Transformational Development models of the 1990s and beyond. The continued emphasis on Modernization and Westernization in contemporary practice will create a frame around a discussion of alternate ideas for community health and well-being. The cost-benefit between asset- and deficit-based methodologies will emerge through the examination of the biblical and theological issues raised when applied to human systems and communities.
Indigenous Leadership Development
This seminar course will introduce students to concepts of leadership, organizational change theory, and skills required to lead organizations and communities in the context of changing demographics. The emerging practice of diversity as central to leadership theory and practice, the holistic nature of diversity, social justice within a diverse society, and the role these have in contributing to effective and appropriate leadership will be explored to gain an informed understanding. Reflection on multicultural, and intercultural perspectives and partnerships, specifically, those between Indigenous Peoples and Western culture is a focal aspect of this course. Leaders require knowledge, skill and attributes that support inclusion and promote unity.
Family and Social Systems
Indigenous family contexts have changed dramatically over the course of the centuries, since contact. Family systems, including parenting, intergenerational roles and relationships, as well as governance and provision for need, have come under significant stress, as a result. Proposed remedies over the 20th and into the 21st centuries have attempted to accommodate traditional Indigenous ways within invasive Euro-centric systems. This course examines the impact of cultural and social forces upon the family system including major systems theories, strategies, and techniques of engaging family and family relationship in the midst of shifting dynamics and demographics. Issues of family and inter-generational conflict as well as the ethical considerations of intervention are also examined.
Colonization and Decolonization
This course focuses on contemporary theories regarding colonization and decolonization emerging out of Indigenous studies, critical ethnic studies, and post colonialism studies. Attention is paid to the relationship between race, colonialism, and gender. Students will explore how these theories intersect with Christian theologies and spiritual practice. This course will consider the critiques made by Indigenous and postcolonial scholars of the methodological approaches used in the humanities and social sciences for their complicity in colonialism. It will examine various attempts to “decolonize” methodology and to construct Indigenous and postcolonial methodological approaches to society and community. Students will work to develop their own philosophical and methodological approaches to decolonization.
Cultures and Systems Change
The experience of Christianity has been culturally devastating for Indigenous peoples. Through exploring the process of decolonization and indigenization, this course will examine how Indigenous people live a biblically-informed Christian faith in the context of Indigenous cultures. Jesus, as a change master in a complex cultural system, is the model for guiding effective and lasting change. This course utilizes perspectives and tools for interpreting and guiding a cultural system towards deep change. Insights from various disciplines, such as anthropology, social psychology, and organizational science, will stimulate the exegesis of culture in fresh ways.
Cultural Anthropology
Trajectories in the study of anthropology have been helpful and hurtful, particularly to Indigenous people globally. In this course, participants will explore a variety of historical anthropological theories. The course will explore anthropology as a discipline, and invite other worldviews to contribute to the shaping of anthropological theory and practice for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Community Field Placement
The student will work in a community agency or non-profit organization as a field placement, selected jointly with their supervisor. This should be a setting focused on community transformative development where possible, from a primarily asset-framed perspective. The placement will be chosen so as to provide the optimum opportunity for a contributory learning experience in Asset-Based Community Development
Studies in a Holistic Gospel (Directed Reading and Research)
The course will explore how the body and soul dualism, out of which much Christian mission operated in the past (i.e. saving souls only), has proved inadequate and damaging to many First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples in Canada. In this course, participants will explore and participate in developments in Christian missiology, in order to provide a more robust understanding of the nature of the gospel.
Indigenous Survey (Directed Study)
This course provides students with an opportunity to pursue an interest in a particular topic related to Indigenous peoples. The goal is to expand the student’s depth and breadth of knowledge in a specific area, including Indigenous History, Indigenous Philosophy, or Indigenous Religious Contexts.
Social Construction of Identity (Directed Reading and Research)
This course examines critically the social construction of ethnicity and identity within First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities, as well as the implications for broader community social responses to those identities. Students will study the myths and realities surrounding the development of racial, ethnic, and cultural categories in North America and learn how social, political, and economic forces have shaped the experiences of different ethnic groups. Students will also be introduced to the concepts of socialization, social interaction, identity formation and self-fashioning; the social construction of class, gender and race, age, and deviance; and other social phenomena.
While not guaranteed, NAIITS attempts to offer a tuition-directed scholarship for the MA program(s), which is made available through the generosity of faculty and friends. If you believe you might qualify for the scholarship, you are encouraged to apply according to the following guidelines.
BASIC AWARD
$100 per credit hour taken per award period deemed eligible to a maximum lifetime
award of $5000.
For more information contact admissions@naiits.com
Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to provide documentation of their capacity to study in English.