submitted by underhil@augsburg.edu
This coming September, 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. Students take courses in environmental justice, climate change, politics in the American heartland, outdoor leadership, and undertake individual research projects. In addition to spending time in St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans, the group paddles and camps portions of the river in the Driftless region, part of the “Wild Miles” on the Lower Mississippi and the cypress swamps of the Atchafalaya River, the heavily industrialized “Chemical Corridor,” and finishes by paddling to the Gulf of Mexico, 2,345 river miles from the headwaters. 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.