Program Overview
Gonzaga Outdoors offers an annual three-week academic wilderness field-course, called Gonzaga-in-the-Wilderness. The program is a partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Global Engagement and Gonzaga Outdoors. Each GITW program is comprised of different faculty members who instruct a variety of courses while traveling to novel outdoor venues throughout the American West. In recent years GITW courses have retracted the Lewis and Clark expedition in canoes down the Missouri River, followed the salmon run thru the North Cascades into San Juan Islands, and rafted down the Snake River thru Hells Canyon. Structured outdoor adventure education experiences serve as the common theme that aligns each unique GITW program. Courses associated with this program have included: Field Studies in Biodiversity, Creative Nature Writing, Marine Biology, Outdoor Leadership and US Environmental History. The experiential nature of this program balances traditional coursework with field work, allowing students to actively engage with the ecosystems to gain a deeper understanding of regional and environmental issues.