Track 1: Professional Development through the Journeyman Certification

Track 2: Student Defined Inquiry (SDI), an independent research study on topic chosen by the student

The Wilderness Bushcraft Semester is not a show and tell type of program where information is presented and students passively scribble about it in a notebook. The course is long in order to give students the opportunity to pursue mastery through actively engaging with the course curriculum.

The curriculum is designed for people pursuing excellence and demonstrating competence with a variety of skills and techniques. This is the Journeyman certification.

But because there are people who have other goals, we offer a second option; the Student Defined Inquiry or SDI. It is based around the idea of an academic independent study, where a student selects a research topic and gets after it.

Whichever track a student chooses, the course remains the same. What changes are our expectation of you and what your are trying to achieve.

The short explanation of how the two tracks differ in practical sense is that for those pursueing an SDI the practical exams during the end of the canoe phase and during week 8 are optional, but students are expected to use this time wisely to pursue their individual research interests, with the aid of an instructor.

Seting clearly defined goals and then achieving them is what we’re all about.