Designed for exploration.

Each student at Northland College takes a selection of courses from across the arts, sciences, and humanities. This requirement is more than just hoop jumping. It provides a well-rounded foundation of knowledge and skills. Northland College’s general education is designed for exploration. Our students know that chemistry and writing can be closely linked, or that sociology can create better business leaders. Time and again, they have found out how disparate interests actually intersect in surprising ways. They have uncovered unimagined possibilities.

Our general education model, Liberal Education for the Environment and Society (LEES), integrates liberal arts with an environmental studies emphasis, enabling you to address the challenges of the future. LEES prepares you to be a leader in understanding, communicating, and acting upon environmental issues, and in working to address societal dynamics that create and are influenced by environmental issues.

If you’re looking for a small-group learning community, we also offer two general education pathways within the LEES program that are modeled to focus on topics regarding sustainable agriculture or the Lake Superior region.

• Growing Connections allows you a comprehensive look at the history, theories, and practices of sustainable agriculture. You’ll work closely with faculty and regional farmers in classrooms, labs, and fields to develop their understanding of human food systems and ecological health.
• Superior Connections is a series of courses that dive directly into the interwoven economic, environmental, and cultural facets of the Lake Superior watershed. You’ll spend a month circumnavigating the Lake by car, canoe, and on foot, picking up new insights about the region as they go. To apply, please mark Superior Connections as your learning pathway of choice on this form. Student participation is limited to 20; in order to gain acceptance into Superior Connections, students must have a paid enrollment deposit.

A unique element in Northland’s academic program is the calendar. The fall and winter terms are each four months long and consist of a minimum of 65 class days. The spring term (or May term) is one month long and consists of 20 class days. Full-time students must earn 12 to 17 course credits during each of the fall and winter terms.

Fall and winter terms allow time for maturation of ideas in a program of varied courses. The shorter spring term provides an opportunity for concentration through seminars, field experiences, independent study, and internships. It also provides opportunities for off-campus and study-abroad experiences.