Low Lake from the Wilderness Field Station (credit: David
Kesler)
Banner photo: Hegman Pictographs (credit: Heather Axen)
The Cornell Wilderness Term (CWT) is an off-campus program
comprising courses in the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Courses are taught during the first term of the academic year at the Wilderness
Field Station on Low Lake in the Superior National Forest. The Field
Station is within walking distance of the Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness, described by National
Geographic Traveler as "paradise found" and one of the "50
greatest places of a lifetime."
CWT provides students with unique opportunities for field, laboratory
and other creative work, and for reading, writing and reflecting in a
wilderness setting. Co-curricular activities--such as camping, canoeing
and evening seminars--enable cross-disciplinary sharing of ideas. CWT
courses are advertised each year in the TERM TABLE. Participation in the
program entails additional costs that are not covered by regular tuition
or financial aid, and include transportation, room and board, and use
of Wilderness Field Station facilities. Click on details
for further information about expenses, weather, and what to bring.
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Courses
Offered in September 2004
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Note: All classes begin on campus. Students
and faculty will travel together to the Wilderness Field Station
at the end of the first week of Term I and return at the end of
the third week.
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PHI
1-224
Environmental Ethics
Bob Black
&
Jim White
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Moral dilemmas associated with human populations, industrial productivity,
a deteriorating environment, and generally, our treatment of the
natural world. Team-taught by a philosopher and a biologist, the
course will critically analyze the conceptual framework within which
questions about the environment are raised and debated, and provide
biological information relevant to those questions.
(Humanities) Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
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POL 1-371
Wilderness Politics
Craig Allin
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When Europeans first arrived in North America, they viewed it as
a continental wilderness populated by wild men (Native Americans)
and wild beasts. By the late 19th century the continent had been
tamed, and Euro-Americans were increasingly interested in preserving
vestiges of their wilderness past. The purest expression of that
impulse has been the political movement to preserve and protect
large tracts of undeveloped federal lands in a National Wilderness
Preservation System.
Today there are 662 designated wilderness areas totaling more than
105 million acres. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in
northern Minnesota is among the oldest. It is the largest wilderness
area east of the Rockies and the most heavily visited in the nation.
It has been the object of more legislation and more litigation than
any other wilderness area. As such, it is the ideal venue for an
exploration of the politics of wilderness preservation and management
in America.
The course explores the wilderness concept and the wilderness itself.
We will study the history of wilderness preservation in the United
States, the impact of wilderness designation on national parks,
national forests, and other public lands, and the host of controversies
that inevitably arise when government agencies are directed to "preserve
natural conditions." What is wilderness? Is preserving wilderness
possible? Is wilderness preservation a waste of resources? Should
land managers interfere with natural forces? Should forest fires
be allowed to burn? Should predatory animals be reintroduced? What
is the appropriate place of people in wilderness areas? Should we
try to make the wilderness safe for visitors? Should visitors be
regulated to protect wilderness? Should concessions be made to Native
Americans whose ancestors once called these "wilderness areas"
home? How does the division of authority between federal and state
governments influence how these decisions are made? Science is indispensable
to thinking seriously about many of these questions, but ultimately
the choices to be made are political choices. We will try to understand
who is making these choices and why.
We will study the laws, regulations, court decisions, and management
practices that govern the use of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness. We will meet with wilderness managers, and we will participate
in wilderness management, measuring visitor impact at de facto campsites
in designated "primitive areas" where there are no official
campsites. We will travel by canoe for a week or more through the
BWCAW collecting impact data, visiting areas of historical and management
interest, and observing the influence of fire, wind, and visitor
behavior on the wilderness resource. We will participate in the
Cornell Wilderness Term Symposium, sharing what we have done and
what we have learned with other classes at the Wilderness Field
Station.
(Social Science) Prerequisite: POL 262 and permission of
the instructor.
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The Cornell
Wilderness Term
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The Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness
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