Sterling College (VT)
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Arctic Canada: Labrador

Join us to journey into Northern Labrador, the Labrador Inuit homeland, where traditional indigenous lifeways are just a generation away, and resource extraction, eco-tourism and climate change come face to face with the caribou herd, polar bears, a rich cultural tradition, and a spectacular mountainous landscape.

This program is designed to serve students with interests ranging from Ecology, Natural History, and Climate Justice to Outdoor Education.

This course will explore the social, cultural, and natural history of northern coastal Labrador through coastal travel, immersion in the community of Nain, Labrador and a ten day backpacking experience. The expeditionary backpacking component will take place in trail-less tundra in the Torngat Mountains, and will provide students with experience in backcountry travel in a remote and spectacular setting; leadership development, navigation and other travel and camping skills, and an introduction to the natural and cultural history of the area. Our time in the town of Nain will include meetings with members of local government, shopkeepers, hunters, and other community members, to acquire insight regarding local sovereignty and the tensions between development, traditional lifeways, and related social and political issues. Our visit to an Inuit cabin, and in the Torngat National Park Basecamp in Saglek Bay, as well as travelling with an Inuit hunter, will provide invaluable opportunities to explore the social, cultural, and natural history of the area through stories, presentations, direct experience, and conversation. This course integrates a range of disciplines, including outdoor education, natural history, climate justice, land use history, and northern studies.

A Sterling education is both local and global. Our sense of place in Craftsbury Common and Vermont is enriched by participation in our Global Field Studies experiences.

Through Global Field Studies, Sterling students and faculty have the opportunity to travel together within the United States or abroad to look at issues related to environmental stewardship and to experience rich ecological and cultural diversity.

Recent programs have included:

Arctic Canada—Labrador landscapes and society
Bahamas—impacts of land use on coral reefs
Belize—rainforest ecosystems and tropical watersheds
Canada—impact of hydroelectric development
Chiapas, Mexico—agricultural adaptations to climate change
High Sierra Nevada, California—expedition skills, ecology, and natural history of the Sierra Nevada
Hudson River Watershed—nature and culture of a changing landscape
Maritime Canada—marine natural history and ecology of the North Atlantic