Forested ridgelines above a sea of cloud at dawn.

The Calendar

Show readings

61 weeks in the field31 weeks of home breaks13 weeks of study, examinations and applications

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

Select a term to see its route and schedule.

Home breaksStudy / examsApplications

Full calendar · 105 weeks

Term 1 · JUN–AUG 2028

Canada

Weeks 1–11

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
1–22 weeks	Orientation Reading Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer (begins) The Golden Spruce — John Vaillant (begins) Principles of Tsawalk — Umeek / E. Richard Atleo (introduction; chapter 4, recognition) Curated Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish oral histories Positionality-essay model	JUN 2028	Vancouver Island
31 week	Research Intro Details Research methods training and a provisional Extended Project proposal. Reading Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer (cont.) Principles of Tsawalk — Umeek / E. Richard Atleo (chapter 5, consent; chapter 6 optional) OCAP® Indigenous data-governance principles (First Nations Information Governance Centre) Decolonizing Methodologies — Linda Tuhiwai Smith (guided excerpts) A short wolf-ecology paper Field-methods primers AQA Extended Project skills pack Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Decolonising the Mind (one chapter) Wainaina, 'How to Write About Africa' (essay; first reading, before the first documentary)	JUN–JUL 2028	Nootka
4–52 weeks	Ocean Intro Reading Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer (finish) Curated marine-conservation papers Citizen-science ethics case studies Krenak, Ideas to Postpone the End of the World (selected pages)	JUL 2028	Desolation Sound
6–72 weeks	Urban Intro Reading Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott ('legibility' excerpt — full text in Term 2) The Golden Spruce — John Vaillant (cont.) Vancouver reconciliation case studies Borges, 'On Exactitude in Science' Atleo, recognition and consent — revisited from Blocks 1–2, no additional reading	JUL–AUG 2028	Vancouver
8–92 weeks	Arctic Leadership Lab Reading The Golden Spruce — John Vaillant (finish) UFA primer Northern Indigenous climate-adaptation readings IPCC Arctic chapter (curated)	AUG 2028	North Yukon · Off-grid / Camping
10–112 weeks	Solo & Synthesis Reading Consolidation pack Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott (reading ahead for Term 2) Student-chosen synthesis text	AUG 2028	North Yukon · Off-grid / Camping

Home periodStudy, exams and applications after CanadaAUG–OCT 2028

Weeks	Period	Months	Location
12–176 weeks	Home break Details Online subject coursework.	AUG–OCT 2028	Home
181 week	Study / examsStudy week	OCT 2028	Home

Term 2 · OCT–DEC 2028

Nepal & India

Weeks 19–26

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
19–202 weeks	Himalayan Communities Reading Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott (full, part 1) Development as Freedom — Amartya Sen (begins) Thapa, Forget Kathmandu (selections) Gyawali, 'How to energise women: the Nepali response' (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2014; four pages) Decolonizing Methodologies — Linda Tuhiwai Smith (guided excerpts revisited)	OCT 2028	Khumbu & Everest Region
21–222 weeks	Himalayan Trek Reading Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott (finish) Ed Douglas, Himalaya (excerpts) Jemima Diki Sherpa, 'Three Springs' (essay; read in full before departure, revisited after the trek)	NOV 2028	Khumbu & Everest Region
23–253 weeks	Conservation Seminar Reading Development as Freedom — Amartya Sen (cont.) Guha, "Radical American Environmentalism" critique (essay) Gadgil, A Walk Up the Hill (chapters 5 and 16; chapter 18 optional) Agarwal (2001), 'Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender' (paper)	NOV–DEC 2028	Chitwan & Sahyadris (Western Ghats)
261 week	Mumbai Reading Development as Freedom — Amartya Sen (finish) Raworth, Doughnut Economics (selected sections) Biswakarma, 'Remembrance' (poem, tr. Thapa, The Country Is Yours)	DEC 2028	Kathmandu & Mumbai

Home periodStudy, exams and applications after Nepal & IndiaDEC 2028–FEB 2029

Weeks	Period	Months	Location
27–337 weeks	Home break Details Online coursework and Extended Project data analysis.	DEC 2028–JAN 2029	Home
341 week	Study / examsStudy and optional examinations Details Optional January examination series.	JAN–FEB 2029	Home

Term 3 · FEB–APR 2029

Japan

Weeks 35–46

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
35–384 weeks	Resilience Season Reading The Mushroom at the End of the World — Anna Tsing (begins) In Praise of Shadows — Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow — Michiko Ishimure (guided selection, begins) Chiri Yukie, Ainu Shin'yōshū (selected narratives, in Strong, Ainu Spirits Singing)	FEB–MAR 2029	Hokkaido
39–424 weeks	Harmony: Nature, Culture & Hyper-modernity Reading The Mushroom at the End of the World — Anna Tsing (cont.) Why Trust Science? — Naomi Oreskes (begins) Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow — Michiko Ishimure (cont.) In Praise of Shadows — Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (continued seminar reading)	MAR–APR 2029	Tokyo & Kyoto
43–453 weeks	Sakura Reading Why Trust Science? — Naomi Oreskes (finish) Bashō (haiku & travel sketches, curated) Aono & Kazui (2008), Kyoto cherry-flowering phenology (paper)	APR 2029	Kyoto & Nara
461 week	Ocean Intensive Reading The Mushroom at the End of the World — Anna Tsing (finish) Darwin & Quammen (Song of the Dodo) excerpts Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow — Michiko Ishimure (revisited) Why Trust Science? — Naomi Oreskes (revisited)	APR 2029	Ogasawara Islands

Home periodStudy, exams and applications after JapanMAY–JUL 2029

Weeks	Period	Months	Location
47–504 weeks	Study / examsGrade 11 study and examinations Details APs in May; A-levels in June; SAT sittings.	MAY–JUL 2029	Home
51–555 weeks	Home break Reading The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert (Home break before Term 4; finished Block 16) When Rain Clouds Gather — Bessie Head (Home break before Term 4; seminar Block 16)	MAY–JUL 2029	Home
561 week	Study / examsStudy week Details Exam study week.	JUL 2029	Home

Term 4 · JUL–OCT 2029

Namibia, Botswana & Tanzania

Weeks 57–68

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
57–604 weeks	Desert Crucible Reading The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert (cont.; begun on the home break) Liebenberg, The Art of Tracking (excerpts) Owen-Smith, An Arid Eden (excerpts) NACSO, The State of Community Conservation in Namibia (selected pages) Wainaina (re-read)	JUL–AUG 2029	Etosha · Namib-Naukluft Wilderness · Damaraland · Skeleton Coast
61–633 weeks	Wetland Oasis Reading Governing the Commons — Elinor Ostrom (guided excerpts) Blaikie (2006), 'Is Small Really Beautiful?' (read against Ostrom) Mbaiwa (2005), enclave tourism in the Okavango Delta (paper) Agarwal (2001) revisited, beside Ostrom and Blaikie When Rain Clouds Gather — Bessie Head (read on the home break; seminar) The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert (finish)	AUG 2029	Maun & Okavango Delta
64–685 weeks	Savannah to Ocean Odyssey — via Kilimanjaro Details A self-carried Kilimanjaro ascent with licensed local guides and no porters, over at least ten days. Summit attempts depend on the weather and on each student's altitude response. No exams. Reading The Serengeti Rules — Sean B. Carroll (Ngorongoro and Serengeti drives) Paradise — Abdulrazak Gurnah (Maun–Tanzania transit; seminar in Zanzibar) Nyerere, 'Ujamaa — The Basis of African Socialism' and 'Education for Self-Reliance' (essays) Nyerere, 'candle on Kilimanjaro' address (1959, excerpt) Hemingway, 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' (the colonial gaze) Mwaipopo, Mafia Island Marine Park study (ICSF) Thompson et al., Kilimanjaro ice-core papers (curated) Wainaina (re-read) Achebe, 'An Image of Africa' (essay; home break after the term) Ngũgĩ (one chapter; home break) Dead Aid — Dambisa Moyo (home break) Unbowed — Wangari Maathai (home break)	AUG–OCT 2029	Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro (self-carried, 10-day-minimum route), Zanzibar and Pemba Island

Home periodStudy, exams and applications after Namibia, Botswana & TanzaniaOCT–DEC 2029

Weeks	Period	Months	Location
69–757 weeks	Home break Reading Dead Aid — Dambisa Moyo (Home break after Term 4) Unbowed — Wangari Maathai (Home break after Term 4) The Twilight Zone — Nona Fernández (Home break before Term 5; seminar Block 18)	OCT–DEC 2029	Home
76–783 weeks	ApplicationsUniversity applications and testing Details University applications, admissions tests and autumn examination sittings.	OCT–DEC 2029	Home

Term 5 · DEC 2029–MAR 2030

Chile & Argentina

Weeks 79–90

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
79–802 weeks	Foundations: Identity, History & Orientation (Chile) Reading The Invention of Nature — Andrea Wulf (begins) Open Veins of Latin America — Eduardo Galeano (curated excerpts, taught critically) The Twilight Zone — Nona Fernández (read on the home break; seminar) Chihuailaf, Message to Chileans (selections)	DEC 2029	Santiago metropolitan area · Valparaíso & Viña del Mar · Quintay
81–833 weeks	High-Altitude Puna 4x4 Overlanding + Optional Ojos Summit Reading The Invention of Nature — Andrea Wulf (cont. — Chimborazo) Under a White Sky — Elizabeth Kolbert Neo-extractivism in Latin America — Maristella Svampa (begins) Cubillos, Aguilar, Grágeda & Dorador (2018), Salar de Atacama microbial communities (paper) Ramos, 'Energy transition, community fragmentation and territorial justice' (interview, IIED, 2024) Curated lithium dossier (industry, community & agency sources opposed)	DEC 2029–JAN 2030	Copiapó / San Pedro de Atacama base · remote Puna · Miscanti, Miñiques, Verde, Santa Rosa · Volcanoes and refugios.
84–852 weeks	Aconcagua Approach Reading The Invention of Nature — Andrea Wulf (finish) Neo-extractivism in Latin America — Maristella Svampa (finish) San Martín campaign sources (curated)	JAN 2030	Travel corridor + Mendoza city · Andean foothills · Cuyo region
86–883 weeks	Aconcagua Expedition & Summit Objective Reading Expedition-light: field journals Humboldt reprise at altitude	JAN–FEB 2030	Aconcagua (Horcones Valley route) · Plaza de Mulas base camp · Plaza Canadá, Nido de Cóndores, Berlín/Cólera area.
89–902 weeks	Post-Expedition Synthesis & Capstone Reading No new canon — synthesis term Neo-extractivism in Latin America — Maristella Svampa (revisited) Borges, 'On Exactitude in Science' (revisited)	FEB–MAR 2030	Mendoza city · Maipú, Luján de Cuyo · Andean foothills

Home periodStudy, exams and applications after Chile & ArgentinaMAR–MAY 2030

Weeks	Period	Months	Location
91–966 weeks	Home break	MAR–APR 2030	Home
97–982 weeks	Study / examsGrade 12 exam preparation Details The final APs in May. A-levels are already complete, sat in the earlier June and November series.	MAR–APR 2030	Home
991 week	Study / examsFinal study and examinations Details Final AP examinations in May; all examination sittings precede departure for Denali.	APR–MAY 2030	Home

Term 6 · MAY–JUN 2030

Alaska, USA

Weeks 100–105

Weeks	Block	Months	Location
100–1034 weeks	Alaska Exploration & Mt Denali Expedition Details Denali falls across the main exam series, so there are no exams in Term 6. Every sitting is completed before departure. Reading Arctic Dreams — Barry Lopez Wallis, Two Old Women (chapters 1–8 and the Gwich'in section; finished before the expedition)	MAY–JUN 2030	Denali
104–1052 weeks	Graduation & Transference Details The diploma is conferred, and both transcripts are issued. Reading None — the canon is complete Books ceremonially gifted to incoming students	JUN 2030	Vancouver Island