Indigenous studies may analyze several aspects of indigenous people, past and present, from around the world. Studying the details of these communities enables students to better understand the world from a global perspective.

The United States of America commonly called the United States, is a federal republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and the federal district of Washington, D.C. are in first North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in northwestern North America, west of Canada and east of Russia across the Bering Strait, and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-North Pacific. The country also has five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

Certificate programs, which can be earned in about a year, consist of academic classes that are offered at different skill and ability levels. Undergraduate as well as graduate students, depending on their field of study, may obtain certificates.