Winona State University's Center for Mississippi River Studies is dedicated to creating greater understanding of the broad multi-faceted nature of the Mississippi River and the people and places it touches.

We seek greater knowledge of the history, environment, literature, natural and social sciences, folklore, visual and performing arts and economics of the Mississippi River through research, teaching and outreach. Our goal is to create knowledge of the river and to enhance our relationship to it.

As scholars and as people who live and work near it, we see the river as a laboratory, a canvas, an archive, a stage, a text, a great complex thing worthy of contemplation, explication, interpretation and protection.

We create classes, travel study opportunities, workshops, symposia, library collections, internships, jobs, research projects, publications, exhibits, and strong connections among students, faculty, river agencies, corporations, government, other universities, the Winona community, the state and the nation.

The river center has developed or is developing partnerships with such groups and agencies as Xcel Energy, Living Lands and Waters, U.S. National Wildlife Refuge system, Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation, Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Mississippi Valley Conservancy, City of Winona, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the Minnesota DNR, Mississippi River Citizen Commission, the Audubon Society and others.