Superior Connections—2008 Article

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Paddling in the Montreal canoe

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is Superior Connections.

A new liberal education program at Northland College, Superior Connections takes a cohort of fifteen to twenty students through a series of nine interdisciplinary courses, all focused on the Lake Superior watershed. The program is a new way to complete the general credits every student needs to graduate, but it offers participants more than just a broad base of knowledge: it emphasizes the interconnected nature of the world. Rather than viewing each class as independent from the others, the twelve professors dedicated to the program are revealing connections. Students are not just studying art and biology, for example, but how the two affect each other.

This May Term trip, the culmination of the first year of the program, is a month-long circumnavigation of the big lake. The students, led by Alan Brew, associate professor of English, and Grant Herman, experiential outreach educator, began their journey in the last week of April. From Ashland they traveled west to Duluth to meet with photographer Craig Blacklock, then up the North Shore of Minnesota, with stops along the way including the Folk School in Grand Marais and Fort William, a historical site near Grand Portage. I joined the group at Naturally Superior, an outfitter and guiding service near Wawa, Ontario, for the paddling portion of the trip, and ten minutes into our four-days together I am already falling behind. As it turns out, paddling is a lot harder than sitting at a desk, and that’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been doing all winter.

Making Round Stones

Text & Photos by Bob Gross

Just past the marker light at the mouth of the Michipicoten River, I turn to watch the rest of the group flow out into Lake Superior. Low against the water, a few kayaks slide past quietly, but the Montreal canoe, a replica of the big birchbark canoes used during the fur trade, holds my attention. More than thirty feet long, the boat contains most of our group and much of our equipment. All hands paddling in unison, the canoe bounces softly over the standing wave where the rushing current meets the lake. I dig my paddle into the water and turn to follow as the boat disappears into the fog. > Journaling while Dry-suits warm in the sun

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For the students on this trip, however, this sort of thing is status quo. Over the last two semesters their courses have included intensive hands-on experiences throughout the Lake Superior region. From day one of their Outdoor Orientation trip, a circuit around Chequamegon Bay in three Montreal canoes, they have been in the field regularly. Now, after completing their first year and spending the past two weeks on the road together, they are moving like a well-oiled machine. I, on the other hand, am feeling a little bit like the tin man. fall 2008

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Superior Connections—2008 Article by Northland College - Issuu