This interdisciplinary course will use the Minnesota, Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers in the Twin Cities as the sites for field trips, research and interviews with the local communities for writing projects, which will include one creative research paper, one transcribed interview, 2-3 poems and 2 short stories, all related to the river theme, with special attention to the environmental issues. We will examine the interactions between culture and nature, how humans have been affecting and affected by the rivers, and how agriculture, transportation, dams, industries, and recreation development have changed the rivers and their environment in many ways. Research topics can include wetland drainage, land, water and forest resources, human population growth, agriculture, urban/suburb expansion, tour industry, biodiversity and eco-justice in the three-river region, with the notion of the ecosystem that has been sustained by the coexistence and interaction between plants, animals, humans, and other life forms, the system which is facing big challenges due to human activities and global warming.