Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

Serving Students Well: Independent Colleges Today
Visitors from
other colleges
come to St.
John’s College
in Maryland
to gain a better
understanding of
its “Great Books”
curriculum
and distinctive
instructional
methods.
In keeping with this history, in the 1970s Northland
became a self-described “environmental liberal arts college.”
Many students pursue an environment-related major, and
as part of their general education all undergraduates must
take courses that focus on the environment. For example,
students in an English course might study nature writers
such as Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold, and then
take a canoe trip, write about their own perceptions of
nature, and compare their views to those of the writers they
are studying.
The environmental emphasis goes well beyond
the curriculum. Northland uses solar energy to heat its
water supply and wind towers to help generate electricity.
“We think that many of our practices and what we are
doing in our curriculum can be models for others,” says
President Karen Halbersleben. Already, Northland is part of
a consortium of schools, extending from Alaska to Maine,
that have an environmental focus, including Antioch
College in Ohio, Green Mountain College in Vermont,
Naropa University in Colorado, Prescott College in Arizona,
Unity College in Maine, Sterling College in Kansas, and
Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Students at one
participating institution can spend up to two semesters
at another. Says Halbersleben, “It really allows them to
experience different ecosystems.”
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