River semester
Exhibition & environmental Design | Information Design
The rich content generated by those on the trip was collected and conveyed visually in an exhibit designed by our design students. The students in these classes stayed in close contact with the participants on the river through Google Hangout, and gathered their images, quotes, project details, video, and audio for inclusion in the exhibit. An infographic spanned the largest wall in the gallery space and included a timeline, the main towns and cities visited by the river crew, their projects, data, and observations, as well as graphic depictions of the variety of wildlife and ecology connected to specific points along the river. Other components of the exhibit included a space to view videos taken by one of the Film majors, bios of all of the participants, journals entailing a typical day on the river, drawings by two of the Studio Art majors, and a tent, packs, life preservers and Voyager canoe. Visitors to the exhibit were invited to respond with written comments on a social media wall that included 140 selected images from the river crew. The exhibit was an opportunity for the Augsburg community, friends, and families to welcome back and celebrate of the success of the river semester participants.
Over fall semester 2015, Political Science Professor Joe Underhill, Biology Professor Thorpe Halloran, and twelve Augsburg students made history as the first cohort to travel the length of the Mississippi from St. Paul to New Orleans as part of a full semester program. Their journey, called the River Semester, was a trip through the rich ecological life of the river as well as the diversity of communities, towns, and social networks along its path. For the Augsburg community the River Semester was of great interest as a unique and exciting way of conducting a class in connection to the community and environment. Our design students were interested in translating this experience into a multi-faceted exhibition.
