River Semester 2019
→ Short Term Call for Application | Apply here by April 15
→ Conducted by Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, open to undergraduate students from universities in the U.S. and abroad.
The Mississippi River basin has been continually reshaped by human activities. As a space where ecological, industrial, and social realities intersect, it presents a multifaceted topography of the Anthropocene—the geological epoch of humankind.
The River Semester 2019, conducted by Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, offers a full semester of courses for national and international students on a ~100-day canoe&van expedition on and alongside the Mississippi River. The journey starts August 28, 2019 in the headwaters in Northern Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico around November 27.
Participants learn about the ecology and culture of the Mississippi River, develop a field research project on topics such as environmental justice, agriculture in the watershed, political organizing, race relations and social justice, and gain a once-a-lifetime experience on the river. Find more information on the River Semester 2019 here.
The River Semester 2019 takes place in the framework of the one-year project Mississippi. An Anthropocene River, developed and organized by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin in collaboration with numerous international partners. Until November 2019, interdisciplinary groups of researchers, artists, and stakeholders from civil society investigate the river basin to develop local approaches to issues of global change and develop novel methods of research and education. A journey down the Mississippi River will connect the different research sites and activate debates on how to analyse and deal with the anthropogenic impact on the river system. On-site workshops, public lectures, field walks, forums, excursions, and an extensive multimedia documentation will synthesize the site-specific issues and research outputs.
Please contact Prof. Joseph Underhill (underhil@augsburg.edu) with any questions related to participation and possible funding.
