During the fall semester the Traveling Savanna Studio will afford students the opportunity to study the natural systems and the cultural response to these systems in the great Midwestern savanna region of North America.  Travels will bring new light to the design, development and management of urban centers, rural locations and wilderness landscapes from Minnesota to Texas.  This intensive fall semester is structured to include coursework and orientation in Ames prior to departure, more than 4,500 miles of travel in the middle of the continent, and studio time in Ames during travel breaks and at the end of the semester.  A past itinerary of sites studied includes:  Minneapolis; McCarthy Beach State Park, MN; Ely, MN; Boundary Waters Canoe Area; Duluth, MN; Devil's Lake, WI; Chicago; Kansas City; Fayetteville, AR; Little Rock, AR; Queen Wilhelmina State Park, AR; Dallas; Enchanted Rock State Park, TX; San Antonio; Big Thicket National Preserve, TX; and Chicasaw, OK.

 

We consider the Traveling Savanna Studio to be a learning community - a program where coursework is integrated into an intensive group living experience.  This intensive experience will, at times, be challenging.  It will also be rewarding.  We believe that this experience will help you learn not only technical and professional skills - but also inter- and intra-personal skills - that you will use in both your time at ISU and throughout your professional career.