The Masters in Indigenous Studies is the result of thirty years of grassroots work by faculty, staff, and community members that responded to the critical demand for Indigenous research and innovation in post-secondary education and beyond.  First established as an undergraduate program at McMaster, the Indigenous Studies Department has trained a critical mass of undergraduate students in the discipline. In addition, the program has witnessed a rise in student demand for Indigenous content, research, and graduate studies. Students in Ontario are currently limited if they want to pursue graduate studies in Indigenous Studies. The new graduate program seeks to fill this gap.

The Masters in Indigenous Studies intends to retain and attract top-tier domestic and international graduate students. The program will focus on attracting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Indigenous Studies, as well as other allied disciplines. The program will bring together cohorts of innovative graduate students who are interested in working within Indigenous knowledge systems.  The objective of the MA program is to provide students with an immersive multidisciplinary graduate experience that centres Indigenous Studies research methodologies and creation, theory, ways of knowing, and epistemologies while placing community-reciprocity at the fore.  Focusing on regeneration and resurgence-based programming, students will be trained to be nationally and internally recognized Indigenous scholars in Indigenous-led community-based research, knowledge creation, and/or policy.

Students admitted to the M.A. program will complete 2 terms of coursework and have the option of either completing a Major Research Paper (12 months), or a Community-Based Research Project (16 months).