Wizipan Leadership and Sustainability Certificate

Program Coordinator/Contact

Kristi Cammack, Program Coordinator
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Wizipan Leadership and Sustainability Program
605-394-2236

Program Information

The Wizipan Leadership and Sustainability Certificate is a semester long, immersive program allows students to earn a certificate through SDSU. Based on the Lakota term – Wachante Hecha Wizipan (The Heart of Everything that Is) – the Wizipan program uses experiential education, Indigenous narrative, language, culture, and kinship to land as its primary learning tools. This program finds connection between Indigenous land-based knowledge and sustainability. The certificate offers coursework in American Indian studies, natural resource management, health sciences, and leadership. Courses will provide students with the skill sets needed to understand the potential of their leadership roles in their own communities. Students are encouraged to evaluate and understand the relationship of care of self (trauma, mental, physical, spiritual health), care of community (kinship and family), care of environment (land, food and sustenance), and care of culture (language, narrative, ceremony).

Course Delivery Format

Classes will be taught in an innovative, interdisciplinary, hands-on style emphasizing Indigenous experimental learning. The program includes field trips, mentorship, group discussions, and collaborative inquiry projects.