Morten Asfeldt

Email

masfeldt@ualberta.ca

Phone

(780) 679-1158

Address

2-307 Faith & Life Centre

4901-46 Ave

Camrose AB

T4V 2R3

My home within the University of Alberta is in the Augustana Faculty in Camrose, an undergraduate liberal arts and sciences faculty. During my academic career, I have developed many international teaching and research connections and collaborations most notably in Scandinavia, the UK, and Japan. I grew-up in northern Canada (Newfoundland and Yukon) and have spent the last 30 years traveling by canoe, raft, foot, snowshoe, and dogsled to many parts of the NWT and Nunavut. One of the most gratifying aspects of my academic career has been sharing my love and knowledge of the north with students and colleagues from around the world.

My research and teaching are tightly interwoven. My research explores questions that have arisen from my experience of teaching which includes spending hundreds of days and nights with students on extended wilderness educational expeditions, particularly in the Canadian north. For example, my research has explored perceived learning, critical elements, lasting impacts of wilderness educational expeditions, sense-of-place, journal writing, and research methods. In many ways, my research is a form of self-reflection on my experience of teaching with the goal of improving and understanding my life of teaching. In partnership with Dr. Rebecca Purc-Stephenson, we hold a SSRHC grant investigating the philosophies, characteristics, and goals of Outdoor Education in Canada.

My teaching is primarily in the areas of outdoor, adventure, and experiential education. Many of my courses include wilderness expeditions such as canoeing, dogsledding, and hiking. However, these activities are primarily a means-to-an-end. The end I seek is a liberal education where students learn about themselves, working in groups, leadership, the world around them, and, of course, the development of wilderness travel skills while pursing the specific disciplinary goals of a particular course. Pedagogically, I seek to create organic learning experiences that encourage students to engage head, hands, and heart.