submitted by underhil@augsburg.edu
This coming September 1st, the next group of students, faculty, and staff will embark from Lake Itasca to begin their hundred-day expedition by canoe and van down the length of the Mississippi River, studying environmental justice, climate resilience, politics in the American heartland, and a range of individual and customized classes and research projects. We will paddle and camp portions of the river from the Headwaters, the scenic Driftless region, the “Wild Miles” on the Lower River, a portion of the cypress swamps in along the Atchafalaya River, the heavily industrialized “Chemical Corridor” between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and finish by paddling to the Gulf of Mexico, 2,345 river miles from our start. Students interested in joining the program are invited to apply through the Augsburg Study Away web portal. Those completing their applications by Dec. 15 receive a $500 discount on the program fee. Faculty and staff are invited to consider connecting with and potentially traveling with the group (for anywhere from an afternoon to several weeks). There are a range of ways to connect with the project, including virtual links, field research, guest lectures, film and media production, and so on. A sample of projects created with the 2019 expedition can be found at https://www.anthropocene-curriculum.org/project/mississippi. Anyone with questions or interested in participating in the experience can contact Joe Underhill.