In April 1976, the National Conference on Outdoor Pursuits in Higher Education convened to re-examine the potential effectiveness of a small group in focusing on identifiable issues and program possibilities at the college level. The conference, which was loosely structured and held to a limited participation, featured presentations on outdoor pursuits in the academic areas and a series of workshops on liability and safety, staffing, freshman orientation, interdisciplinary courses, and funding. The first presentation described a study by Hawkes which showed positive changes in the attitudes and behavior of teachers who had had an Outward Bound experience and a study by Smathers which reported on the potential of Outward Bound type experiences in the training of student teachers. The second presentation described the State University of New York's "Wilderness Workshop," a 3 hour credit course in American literature open to undergraduate and graduate students and other interested adults. The third presentation described Appalachian State University's use of wilderness experiences to teach anthropology in three ways: as a means of building individual initiative, group communication, and esprit d'corps in classes with no specific environmental theme, as a major project in the "Man and His Environment" course, and as an experience in primitive living in an anthropology class on North American Indians. The conference ended with a business sessions report. (CM)