Toolkit

Blue painter's tape is arranged on a polished concrete floor to depict a simplified map of the Mississippi River system. The design features branching lines representing tributaries and the river network, with a white column intersecting part of the layout. Alt text generated in part by Perplexity AI.

GeographiesApril 4, 2025

Big River Drawings: In Support of Learning, Welcoming, and Community Engagement

By Aron Chang A common directive in community engagement is to “meet people where they are.” One way to do that is to locate…

A view downstream of a wide and placid river shows a steep impounded bank on the right, and a shallow gravelly bank on the left. The shoreline is treelined downstream. The foreground is a rocky spit. The sky is bright blue with wispy cirrus clouds.

PerspectivesApril 4, 2025

The (Non)Territoriality of the Mississippi River

By Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles The Mississippi River is one of the most defining features of Minnesota. It is a body of water that commands…

Essay Geography Research Toolkit Upper Mississippi River

Plein-air paintings on stands in front of a long and sloping grassy hill with two artists in smocks discussing the paintings.

PerspectivesApril 4, 2025

Plein-Air Painting as Countervisual Performative Fieldwork

By Sarah Lewison We can open a portal to the stories of those whose lives have been subjugated by acts of economic control upon…

Art Education Middle Mississippi River Toolkit

A person wearing a blue life jacket and winter clothing paddles a canoe on the Mississippi River near the Flint Hills oil refinery at Pine Bend. The refinery's industrial structures, including smokestacks and storage tanks, dominate the background under a cloudy sky. The canoe holds supplies, including a blue container and a red dry bag. Image courtesy of Michelle Garvey. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

Teaching and PracticeApril 4, 2025

Mississippi as Method

By Michelle Garvey Praxis of Place When I think about the kinds of praxis—the application of theory—that enable liberatory movements, I remember bell hooks….

Education Engagement Environmental Education Environmental Justice Experiential Education Mississippi River Basin Toolkit

Detail view of a black and white image with selective color highlights showing a riverfront scene. In the foreground, a metal structure with vertical beams stands at the water's edge. The center of the image features a large barge or cargo vessel with a rusty orange hull, reflecting in the calm river water. To the right, a white tugboat named "LOUISIANA STAR" is docked. The background shows industrial structures and trees along the shoreline. The upper portion of the image is mirrored, creating a symmetrical effect. Vegetation and debris are visible in the lower left corner, adding texture to the riverbank. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

Primary SourcesApril 4, 2025

Perceptual Ecologies of Sound and Vision at Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing

By Sam Pounders In the Midwest of North America, as in many places, settlements accumulate below confluences where the modern riparian condition unfolds as…

Artistic Expression Engagement Middle Mississippi River Toolkit

A composite image showing a hand holding a portable network kit labeled "Swampnet," featuring a clear plastic case with a small solar panel and an antenna. The background combines a historic 1951 USGS map of New Orleans East, Louisiana, with a modern street view of a residential neighborhood in Bvlbancha | New Orleans. The street is lined with colorful houses, parked cars, and trees under a bright sky. The image represents an alternative communication proof of concept using radio-enabled micro-controllers, Meshtastic software, and LoRa technology to establish a 3.5-mile network in the summer of 2023. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

Teaching and PracticeApril 4, 2025

Networking a Network

By Jen Liu and Monique Verdin Beginning in May 2023, we started building an emergency communication network to connect an existing network of mutual…

Communications Community Engagement Engagement Lower Mississippi River Technology Toolkit

A group of people from the Augsburg University community gathers outdoors near a blue solar shed during a dedication ceremony. The shed, equipped with solar panels on its roof, is surrounded by tables holding cooking equipment, including a propane tank and portable stove. Attendees are standing on grass near the I-94 freeway wall, with parked cars and autumn trees visible in the background. A tall building rises in the distance under a cloudy sky. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

Teaching and PracticeApril 4, 2025

Building a Small, Solar-Powered Work Shed

By Joseph Underhill What does resistance to the current set of unsustainable, unjust, and unhealthy practices look like? In the face of large-scale, daunting…

Education Environmental Education Minnesota Toolkit

A sailboat on the Mississippi River, featuring a red sail and a wooden mast adorned with green foliage. The lush, tree-lined riverbank provides a serene backdrop. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

Teaching and PracticeApril 4, 2025

How to Launch a River Semester: Creating Experimental Programs in Higher Education

By Joseph Underhill How do we create the wildly different kinds of programs needed to respond to the multiple, compounding crises of our day…

Education Experiential Education Toolkit United States

An overhead view of an outdoor picnic setup on grassy ground. A metal tray in the center holds food items including what appears to be meat in a dark red sauce in a plastic container, a packaged sandwich, and several small containers. A thermos sits to the right of the tray, and partial views of several people's feet and legs can be seen surrounding the picnic spread, wearing various footwear including sneakers and boots. A small shovel or tool with a red handle is visible on the left side. Alt text generated by Perplexity AI.

In ReviewApril 2, 2025

Showing Up (for Each Other)

By Lynn Peemoeller Editor’s note: This article was written in January 2024. Here in the Middle Mississippi River region, one thing we’ve managed to…

Community Engagement Engagement Middle Mississippi River Toolkit

Issue Contents

Introduction

Introduction to Issue 28 | Mississippi River Open School

By Laurie Moberg, Editor. In the current moment, I find myself struggling with seemingly endless uncertainties. Environmental, political, social, and personal conditions create a...

By Laurie Moberg, Editor

Introduction

Action Camps Everywhere: Solidarity Programs in the Anthropocene

By John Kim. The Mississippi River Open School for Kinship and Social Exchange (Open School) (2022–2025) has engaged pressing issues at the intersections of...

By John Kim

Feature (Peer Review)

Spirituality and Ecology: (Re)Membering Black Women’s Legacies

By Ebony Aya. I don’t have a green thumb, or at least one I have discovered yet. Keeping my indoor plants alive has been...

By Ebony Aya

Feature

Bioculture Now! The Paraná Talking with the Mississippi

By Brian Holmes For the best experience, read this article with a widescreen view here. From the 1930s onward, the Mississippi has been a...

By Brian Holmes

Feature

Imagining Life-as-Place: Harm Reduction for the Soft Anthropocene

By Sarah Lewison During the summer of 2023, at a conference of the Mississippi River Open School, an experimental learning group I belong to,...

By Sarah Lewison

Feature

Moving Spirits Through Water Together

By Stephanie Lindquist frozen On mornings when it is 17 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, it is hard to crawl out from my warm sheets....

By Stephanie Lindquist

Feature

Pokelore: How a Common Weed Leads Us to Kinship with Our Mid-River Landscape

By Lynn Peemoeller “A weed is a plant growing in a place where we don’t want it, and I have seldom seen a poke...

By Lynn Peemoeller

Feature

Fluvial Networks of Creative Resistance

By Joseph Underhill The ship is the heterotopia par excellence. In civilizations without boats, dreams dry up, espionage takes the place of adventure, and...

By Joseph Underhill

Geographies

Big River Drawings: In Support of Learning, Welcoming, and Community Engagement

By Aron Chang A common directive in community engagement is to “meet people where they are.” One way to do that is to locate...

By Aron Chang

In Review

Showing Up (for Each Other)

By Lynn Peemoeller Editor's note: This article was written in January 2024. Here in the Middle Mississippi River region, one thing we’ve managed to...

By Lynn Peemoeller

Perspectives

The (Non)Territoriality of the Mississippi River

By Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles The Mississippi River is one of the most defining features of Minnesota. It is a body of water that commands...

By Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles

Perspectives

Plein-Air Painting as Countervisual Performative Fieldwork

By Sarah Lewison We can open a portal to the stories of those whose lives have been subjugated by acts of economic control upon...

By Sarah Lewison

Primary Sources

Perceptual Ecologies of Sound and Vision at Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing

By Sam Pounders In the Midwest of North America, as in many places, settlements accumulate below confluences where the modern riparian condition unfolds as...

By Sam Pounders

Teaching and Practice

Mississippi as Method

By Michelle Garvey Praxis of Place When I think about the kinds of praxis—the application of theory—that enable liberatory movements, I remember bell hooks....

By Michelle Garvey

Teaching and Practice

Networking a Network

By Jen Liu and Monique Verdin Beginning in May 2023, we started building an emergency communication network to connect an existing network of mutual...

By Jen Liu and Monique Verdin

Teaching and Practice

Building a Small, Solar-Powered Work Shed

By Joseph Underhill What does resistance to the current set of unsustainable, unjust, and unhealthy practices look like? In the face of large-scale, daunting...

By Joseph Underhill

Teaching and Practice

How to Launch a River Semester: Creating Experimental Programs in Higher Education

By Joseph Underhill How do we create the wildly different kinds of programs needed to respond to the multiple, compounding crises of our day...

By Joseph Underhill

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