HSEM2204H

The Mississippi River is a storied river; it is particularly critical to the story of Minnesota. It is one of the state and nation’s most recognizable geographic features. Home to the Falls of St. Anthony, the historic upper reach of riverboat navigation at St. Paul, and the ancestral and remaining home of the Dakota people, this stretch of the river was recognized as a unit of the National Park System in 1988 and its banks and depths hold the story of US colonization, expansion, war, and commerce. Its waters pass through the heart of the Minneapolis campus, affording the U of M a unique opportunity to serve as a lead voice on innovative, connective, publicly accessible scholarship; this class proposes explorations this semester that will concentrate on the complex set of issues around telling river stories. What stories are commonly told? By whom? Who is included, and who is excluded? Where and how are river stories told? What future(s) do river stories create?

000571

Periodic Fall & Spring