Wizipan Program Description

Unique semester-long, immersive academic experience is grounded in Lakota philosophy.
Based on the Lakota term - Wachante Hecha Wizipan (The Heart of Everything that Is).
Uses experiential education, Indigenous narrative, language, culture and kinship to land as its primary learning tools.
Combines coursework in American Indian Studies, Natural Resource Management, Indigenous Health and Leadership.
Courses will provide students with the skill sets needed to understand the potential of their leadership roles in their own communities.
Encourages students to evaluate and understand the relationship of care of self (trauma, mental, physical, spiritual health), care of community (kinship and family), care of the environment (land, food and sustenance), and care of culture (language, narrative, ceremony).
Students successfully completing the program will earn 15 undergraduate credits and a certificate in Leadership and Sustainability from SDSU.
Classes will be taught in an innovative, interdisciplinary, hands-on style emphasizing Indigenous experimental learning.
Includes field trips, mentorship, group discussions and collaborative inquiry projects.