The River Semester
100 days on the Mississippi River
COURSES
POL 241 Environmental and River Politics
Independent Study: Self-designed Integrative Project
ENV 310 Field Seminar: Sustainability, Leadership, and Community
ENV 330: Rivers, Climate Change, and Urban Environmental Justice
An argument for the value of experiential education
“The most important attitude that can be formed is that of the desire to go on learning.”
- Dewey, Experience and Education
The power of the direct and unmediated experience of the world itself.
The Six Degrees of Separation between us and the world
The embodied self
Our material possessions & adornments
Tools, machines, and labor-saving devices
Electronics and virtual reality
The room in the climate-controlled building
The city & its infrastructure
Society and civilization
The World
What we gain in comfort, control, security, we lose in terms of direct connection, experience, feeling fully alive.
Rafting up at dawn
The expedition by the numbers
12-16 students, 2 staff, 2 professors, 50 guest speakers/lecturers
6 classes: Environmental Studies, Biology, Political Science, HPE
8 independent studies (ENV, HPE, POL, Art, Film)
5 for-credit internships
2 work study positions
108 days on the road
3,600 total miles traveled
675 miles of paddling on the river (the rest by bus, van, train, bike, and motorboat)
Total weight of 4 loaded voyageur canoes: 5,500 pounds
Media (in 2015)
Blog word count: 13,800
Skype sessions: 12
TV interviews: 5
Newspaper stories: 25
(Steff was happy!)
Where we sleep
| # of nights |
Camping | 62 |
Hostel | 21 |
Research station | 10 |
Beach house | 2 |
Hotel | 3 |
Homestay | 3 |
Dredge boat | 3 |
Classtime
Whiteboard
vs.
the World
The challenges of providing drinking water in Moline.
Guest lecture by our own Emily Knudson
Genetic affinity of invasive corals in the Gulf of Mexico
Mist netting and bird banding near Baton Rouge
Health, Wellness, and Connection
Lots of exercise
Fresh air & sunshine
Good food
Natural sleep cycles
Simplicity: life mainly about the basic needs
Good company (and backrubs!)
A “Postmodern” Experience: mix of old and new
Low electricity use (~2% of the typical U.S. electricity consumption)
Solar panels and battery packs (supplied about one-third of energy).
Green by 2015!
Leaving (little) trace
Low carbon footprint (5% of the typical U.S. carbon footprint)
Little waste produced (6.5% of U.S. average)
Connected to the web
Working and studying at a picnic shelter at a campsite on the river, using a mobile wi-fi hotspot
Izzy registering for her classes ⇒
The different roles of a teacher in the field
In the world, the lessons & wisdom come to you.
The teacher becomes a guide, a coach, a facilitator.
You become opportunistic, and have to remain flexible.
The unexpected and unplanned encounters
Jon “Hawk” Stravers (ornithologist and musician) and Robert Vavra (clammer, fisherman, tour boat operator)
The insanity that was Bombfire Pizza (in Sabula, Iowa)
Getting an unexpected tour of Aldo Leopold’s birthplace, with some folks who knew his kids.
II. What we learned
“It feels good to say ‘I know the Mississippi.’ But of course you don’t--what you know better is yourself and the Mississippi has helped.”
--Student journal entry
d from the river
Yes, it is polluted.
Direct discharge into the river⇒
What we learned from the river
And heavily engineered:
Old River Control Structure⇒
But the river remains wild, clean, untamed
And full of life
Like snakes!
Jubilee and a paddlefish (a species that has been around for 75 million years)
Wild boar and bobcat tracks
“If I had to describe the river with one word before the trip I probably would have said ‘dirty,’ now I would call it, ‘beautiful,’ ‘bountiful,’ or ‘a dancer.’”
--River Semester student journal entry
The river is complex and interconnected
Direct experience challenges our preconceptions and assumptions
The river is not just the flowing of water to the sea
Lots of land (mud) being carried by the water as well
Knee deep in the big muddy
The river is a huge sediment transportation system
discharges ~150 million tons of sediment each year
Exposed bedform dunes in side channel on lower river
2. Local knowledge: learning from the communities and people along the river
The river constitutes a distinct socio-cultural site, with its own culture, values, and shared experiences.
A place of stories to be heard and told
Vast local knowledge and expertise
John Ruskey showing us the shape of the river
Tour of a floating marsh.
Encountering social injustice
Memorial where Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, MO.
Stories of resilience, pride, and rebuilding in the Lower Ninth
Street musicians in New Orleans
3. We learned specific content (and vocational discernment)
Individual research projects
Vocational discernment
Partner faculty from many departments
Customized curriculum
Interdisciplinary and multimedia
Citizen science
Powerful storytelling (check out the Youtube videos)
4. Life Skills
Group dynamics and teamwork
Leadership (students taking over planning and steering)
Problem-solving in the field
Stress management
Executive function (getting better at planning and be self-directed)
An awareness of one’s surroundings (pulled out of oneself by the world)
Learning to pay attention
Ability to navigate through new situations
5. A set of values
Caring about the river and the world
Connection to the River
“The river has stolen my head, my heart, my soul. Mud runs through my veins and my heart is filled with boils and eddies. The current pulls my feet downriver. I have become the river and the river has become a part of me.”
6. Empowerment & Civic Agency
Tree-planting near Alton, Illinois ⇒
Even after having seen first-hand the devastation of Katrina and land loss in the Delta, a student would write: “There is always hope in difficult situations.”
-- student journal entry
“Small organizations are making a dent in the problems of the world.”
“There just may be hope for the world environmentally.”
--Student journal entries
Hannah with Ann Bancroft ⇒
“Changes in systems can [facilitate] minor environmentally-friendly changes that would create better habits.”
“You can make a change”
--Student journal entries
Students presenting to 6th graders in New Orleans
We learn/retain little of what we read but almost all of what we teach to others
What are the River Semester students doing now?
In sum: high impact experiential education
“There is an element to this trip where we never leave class. It’s amazing to be able to have conversations with people that not only make you question and think about yourself and what you believe, but also think about what you have never thought about before. I have never wanted to learn so much more about everything.”
“It is because of the River Semester Program I have a newfound respect and care so much more for experiential learning. It has given me a new perspective on life, made me more environmentally and politically aware, has pushed me out of my comfort zone, and has made me a better person in many ways.”
Never in my life have I been so immersed into the subject matter of my [field of study]. I was [studying] what I was living day to day. This immersion allowed me to see the world as it actually is, not through a window or screen.”
What’s next?
Ideas for a 21st Century Experiential Education
Go big or go home . . .
Faculty agency and creativity: what projects can we dream up and have we dreamed up?
I-term, Public Achievement, Common Table, Health Commons, etc.
Project- and site-based courses and programs
Teams of faculty, students, community partners
Applied, real-world problem-solving
Enhanced partnerships
Build connection with Wilderness Inquiry, Paddle 4ward, Quapaw, National Park Service, HECUA, etc.
Develop a cohort of outdoor educators and citizen scholars for the river
Other expeditions
To turn the Augsburg campus into an urban arboretum?
To connect with Somali youth to create an arts organization?
To start a social entrepreneurship incubator on Franklin Ave?
Back on the river?
2018: River Semester: Take 2
Who wants to come on the next trip?
QUESTIONS?