Syllabus
The Art of Travel
K55.1200
Professor Steve Hutkins
Spring 2012
2-credit course, runs entire semester
Enrollment restricted to students studying abroad in the spring of 2011 at an NYU abroad site.
Description
This online course provides an opportunity for students studying abroad to reflect, analytically and creatively, on their travel experiences. We examine some of the art created by travelers—travel literature, photography, paintings—and consider how traveling can itself be viewed as an art, with its own conventions, styles, traditions, and opportunities for innovation. All of the course activities are conducted on the class website: students blog about their responses to the readings and their own travels, post photos, etc. Enrollment is limited to students studying at one of NYU’s study abroad sites. Reading assignments are individualized for the city and country of each study-abroad site, but some readings are for the whole class.
Requirements
15 blog posts, approx. 400 words each.
15 comments on other students' blogs, approx. 100 words each.
Read two travel narratives or books about your abroad site.
Readings
The required required readings include two travel narrative or travel essay books about the place you’re studying, plus selections from Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel (available on this website). Take a look at the suggested readings page to help choose your two travel books. If you want to read a book not on the list, please get approval in advance.
Schedule of Topics
|
POST DATE |
ASSIGNMENT |
|
January 25 |
1. Introductions |
|
February 1
|
2. Going places |
|
February 8 |
3. Wayfinding |
|
February 15 |
4. Communicating |
|
February 22 |
5. Quotidian life |
|
February 29 |
6. Books (1) |
|
March 7 |
7. Authenticity |
|
March 14 |
8. The "art" of travel |
|
March 21 |
9. Great good places |
|
March 28 |
10. Books (2) |
|
April 4 |
11. The genius loci |
|
April 11 |
12. The comfort of strangers |
|
April 18 |
13. Epiphanies |
|
April 25 |
14. Tips |
|
May 2 |
15. Farewells |
Contact
Office: 715 Broadway, room 608
Phone: 998-7361
E-mail: ssh1@nyu.edu
Policies
Deadlines
The syllabus and assignment page give deadlines for each post, but don't worry if you a couple of days off the schedule, but you are required to post once a week.
Plagiarism
In writing your posts, you are encouraged to copy and paste quotations from other websites, but it is extremely important that you cite your source and provide a link to it. The blog posts are a form of academic writing, and plagiarism is a serious violation of the rules of academic integrity.
