Global Education and Field Study

USA (UT) - AS218: The Art of the Boat

Students on the river in a boat they constructed.

AS216: Topics in Printmaking: The Art of the Boat

Bluff, Utah & the San Juan River

Last Offered: Summer 2025, Spring 2026

This travel based course that will explore the concept of a BOAT as relief print, functional form, and fine art object. Taking place in remote Southeast Utah on the Yestermorrow Design School Campus, students will live and work alongside the San Juan River to conceptualize what is means to create a wooden MacKenzie drift boat that is both a printable matrix and technical whitewater craft. The course will be divided into three parts: design and carving of the hulls, construction of the boats themselves, and finally a multi-day aquatic journey with the boats built during the course. Students will leave leave the course with a knowledge of relief printmaking, basic boatbuilding skills, and expedition planning expertise. No experience with printmaking, boatbuilding, or river expeditions is necessary, just a mindset of openness and exploration in all aspects of intellectual and experiential learning.

Course led by Prof. Kate Aitchison

Course Info

This course is NOT YET CONFIRMED for a future offering.

Financial Info

How to Apply or Withdraw

Course Expectations

Heightened Physical & Psychological Requirements for All Study Away: Study Away or Abroad can be a very different experience than an on-campus course, requiring both physical and mental adjustments which may not be typical for your on-campus experience. This includes requirements for physical activity such as more extensive physical movement (walking, touring, extended sedentary time during travel, etc.), requirements to manage luggage, often on uneven terrain such as cobblestone streets or buildings without elevators, or locations with limited medical facilities, potential extremes of weather and temperature. Housing options are also significantly different from an on-campus experience.

Some programs will use family homestays while others will require students live in pairs, triples, and quads. Travel is also inherently a stressful alteration to your normal routines, with greater flexibility, adaptability and resilience required, whether it is dealing with distinct cultures, language differences, feelings of “otherness” or lack of belonging, or simply greater ambiguity and unfamiliarity with surroundings. We recommend that all students consider these realities of study away and abroad as they consider programs. Below we will list any known expectations which the faculty have identified for their specific course.

Expectations for Study on this Program: This course will take place in rural Southeast Utah along the border of the Navajo Reservation. This is a location without immediate access to many resources- the nearest grocery store and hospital are 25 minutes away and there is no public transportation. A van will be a part of the course, but students are encouraged to bring their own vehicle if available. The climate is extremely variable and could range from being extremely cold to extremely hot. The carving and boat building process is not for the faint of heart and will require many hours of manual labor, that being said, the process and the labor results in the creation of wooden boats!

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USA (UT) - AS218: The Art of the Boat

AS216: Topics in Printmaking: The Art of the Boat

Bluff, Utah & the San Juan River

Last Offered: Summer 2025, Spring 2026