Penn State Adventure Literature

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Penn State Adventure Literature

For more information on Penn State Adventure Literature courses, email [email protected]. Adventure Literature courses are self-sustaining.

The Penn State Adventure Literature Program was started by Professor Bob Burkholder in Summer 2000 with a Wilderness Literature course that centered on a backpacking experience. In 2001 an experience-based course on Grand Canyon Literature was added (only offered once because of the cost of traveling to and through the Grand Canyon was too great to attract many students). In May 2004, a course on

literature of the Atlantic Coast, focusing on Low Country South Carolina, was added, and is still being offered, as are a course on the literature of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed (added in Fall 2006), and courses on the literature and culture of Cape Cod and Current Trends in Food Writing and Environmentalism. Offered through a partnership between the College of the Liberal Arts and Penn State Outreach, Adventure Literature courses can only be offered if enough students sign up so that the course pays for itself. Rather than being a drain on resources, this program has earned profit-sharing money for the College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Health and Human Development. Adventure Literature offers two inter-college programs linking a Kinesiology course with the study of Literature. Students taking Adventure Literature courses pay a course fee to cover non-academic costs of the classes and experiential enhancements, things like transportation, food, and gear rentals. Because of the intensified experiential learning experiences, students are “in class” many more hours than the 4.5 credits awarded for these courses require. Adventure Literature courses serve as a laboratory for some Penn State graduate students, providing an opportunity for them to develop unique skills and a valuable credential by helping to teach courses and lead class outings. Adventure Literature courses have worked through on-site partnerships with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Echo Hill Outdoor School (in Worton, MD), Hampton Plantation State Historical Site (in SC), Massachusetts Audubon’s Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary, the Village Museum (McClellanville, SC) and a variety of other institutions. A planned Adirondack course will feature a partnership with both the Adirondack Museum and the Adirondack Mountain Club. Adventure Literature courses have been featured in President Graham Spanier’s 2007 State-of-the-University video, the online newsletter of the College of the Liberal Arts, the online newsletter of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a College of the Liberal Arts podcast, and numerous times in the Daily Collegian.

02/03/2023

Wilderness Literature students responded to perspectives from William Cronon, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and others in a ”gallery discussion” this week. So good to see everyone collaborate and interpret diverse perspectives!

01/15/2023

Former Adventure Literature student Qianzi Cong made a documentary film about rock climbing! The 15-minute film is a snapshot of her home gym in Beijing during a New Years Eve bouldering competition—including interviews that focus on how rock climbing sustained folks through a difficult year. Take a look!

一直很想拍关于攀岩的片子。在跨年的前几天，我突发奇想，想拍一个关于香蕉攀岩（北京上地店）的短纪录片。起初，觉得这个想法非常的疯狂，觉得自己可能就是脑子一热，有很多的担心。但是在尝试了很多次自我否决之后...

12/27/2022

Andi Stout interviewed Talley about her manuscripts-in-progress, including her work's relationship to environmental crisis and wilderness recreation. Check it out!

Talley’s website: https://talleyvkayser.com/

11/30/2022

Check out this article about Adventure Literature—including Tim Mateer's reflections about a certain adventure along Red Creek last year.

There's still room in Wilderness Literature, SP23 edition. We'd love to see you there!

Are you a fan of literature that transports you to the natural world and away from the traditional city landscape? Do you enjoy getting your hands dirty and learning new life skills? Rather than simply reading novels in traditional classroom settings, Penn State students can experience “unparallel...

11/09/2022

Deep Wild just ran a short profile of Wilderness Literature students—check us out! 🤓

As part of her Wilderness Literature course, Talley V. Kayser, the Program Director of the Adventure Literature Series at Penn State University, leads two dozen students and a team of instructors o…

07/14/2022

Learning lasts a lifetime. Once you have the skills to get outdoors at your level of comfort, you carry them wherever you go . . . and you carry the potential to BUILD on those skills, to refine and develop your abilities.

Adventure Literature is all about sharing those skills, and more. This community learns how to approach outdoor experiences thoughtfully, with a sense of how humans fit into the more-than-human world.

Do you recognize this fish? Do you know their history in the High Sierra? It’s a zany story full of human hubris—a great example of how “wilderness” is rarely what it seems.

AND: human history informs my decision to eat this catch rather than release it. Which do you consider more ethical? What context(s) might change your mind?

07/11/2021

YES IT WILL!!! 👍🏼👍🏼 All students at Penn State need six Integrative Studies credits to graduate. ENGL 183Z, Section 605: Rock Climbing Literature earns students . . . wait for it . . . ALL SIX of those credits! 🤩🤩🤩 Knock out that Gen Ed (and have fun doing it) by signing up in LionPath today!

More questions? Put ‘em in the comments, or email [email protected] to learn more.

06/29/2021

05/28/2020

Adventure Awaits!

12/20/2019

Cape Cod Literature students help with sea turtle rescue efforts; this year, a turtle we found (and students who found it!) appear in the New York Times. We're lucky to work with Bob Prescott and the other impassioned leaders at Mass Audobon.

As the ocean warms, an increasing number of turtles are heading farther north and getting stranded once the temperatures fall.

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University Park, PA
16802

Website

http://english.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/adventure-literature

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