PENN STATE ADVENTURE LITERATURE COURSES
Learn and Earn Credits Outdoors!
Adventure Literature courses combine the study of literature with outdoor activity that enhances understanding of reading. Adventure Literature students not only read Thoreau, but like him they travel to the mountains, the river, or the seashore; they hike, climb, and kayak; and they write about their experiences. These courses provide you with the opportunity to learn, have fun, have the experience of a lifetime, and get credits that will help you to satisfy General Education requirements!
Exploring Cape Cod: Its Nature and Culture (4.5 credits of ENGL 181B) — FALL SEMESTER
Study the nature and culture of one of America's most distinctive places, and then travel there in the late fall to walk in the footsteps of Thoreau and other great Cape
Cod writers. We will comb the beach for stranded sea turtles; travel by boat to an offshore shoal to see seals, seabirds, and whales. The course fee is $360.
Sailing the Chesapeake: Cultural and Natural Landscapes (4.5 credits of ENGL 181A) — FALL SEMESTER
Read classic texts about the Bay while participating in a series of weekend trips and activities meant to deepen your knowledge of the Bay and its watershed. We will paddle
several parts of the Susquehanna River to learn about how the watershed works and just how healthy it is, and we will spend a long weekend at Echo Hill Outdoor School on Maryland's
Eastern Shore, traveling on historic boats and studying Bay nature and culture. The course fee is $340.
The Beach: Cultural Artifact/ Environmental Reality (4.5 credits of ENGL 181C and 1.5 credits of KINES 001) — SPRING SEMESTER
Read and study the nature and culture of the shore, with specific attention to the South Carolina Low Country. Over Spring Break, we will travel to Charleston where we will
kayak the swamps and marshes and coastline of that region, and end our trip with a three-day stay on an uninhabited barrier island. During the week we will visit historic sites, hike on
undeveloped islands, and sample local culture and cuisine. The course fee is $360.
The Penn State Wilderness Literature Field Institute (3 credits of ENGL 181D and 1.5 credits of KINES 001) — SPRING SEMESTER
This course includes a canoe trip on the West Branch of the Susquehanna and travel to the beautiful Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia for a four-day backpacking trip,
a day of whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River, and a day of rock climbing indoors at the Milton Rock Gym. In class we will read and discuss nature literature, environmental
philosophy, and how-to essays related to our adventures outdoors. The course fee is $325.
Eating Your Ecology: Food Writing and Environmentalism (3 credits of ENGL 297) — SPRING SEMESTER
Explore how writers — from Thomas Jefferson and Thoreau to Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, and Barbara Kingsolver — have written about
food and its production as an aspect of our culture, and then travel to area farms to discover where the food we eat comes from. The course ends with a dinner of local food prepared by
students. The course fee is $195.
For more information go to http://english.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/adventure-literature/adventure-literature-spring-2013/view or to the Penn State Adventure Literature Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/PennStateAdventureLit. Contact Professor Bob Burkholder at reb5@psu.edu or 814-865-6488 or call Lisa Clapper at 814-863-5144.
