The Art of Travel: Assignments

Post by Sept. 8

Before you get started, please read this note about getting started.   The instructions for creating an account and posting blog entries and inserting images can be found on the website help pages here.

First post: Write a short piece (about 400 words) introducing yourself to the other members of the class. Write about what seems relevant to you: where you’re from, your concentration, where you're studying abroad, what classes you’re taking, what you hope to accomplish while abroad, perhaps something that's already happened on your travels.

When you post the entry, be sure to scroll to the "Art of Travel" in the "Course" box and "1. Introductions" in the "Art of Travel Topic" box.

For this first post, you could post a picture of yourself or the place you live or the place you'll be studying, or something else related to what you discuss in the post.  (As with all the images you post, it doesn't have to be a photo you took yourself.)

Take some time to read everyone’s introductions so you get to know who’s in the group. If you feel like it, click on the “add new comment” link at the bottom of the post and say hello to some of your fellow students and comment on something they’ve said about themselves. While it may be hard for you to keep up with everyone else’s blogs, try to read a few each week and write a short comment on one or two. This will help make the class more of a group sharing with each other, rather than everyone just working and writing in a vacuum.
 

2. Departure-Arrival Story

Post by Sept. 13

Read Pico Iyer's essay on "Why we travel," then (keeping its themes in mind) write a short travel story about what’s been going on with your trip so far.  You might write about your departure from the U.S.—the taxi to the airport, going through the airport, saying goodbye to friends and family, your final memories and thoughts about what’s to come. Or you might write about your arrival in your abroad site—the first thing that happened when you arrived, your first walk around your new neighborhood, etc. What seemed strange? What surprised you? If you haven't left for your abroad site yet, write about a story about preparing for the trip.

When you post the entry, be sure to scroll to the Art of Travel tutorial in the "Classes" box and "Departure-Arrival" in the "Topic" box.

Comment on someone else’s blog. This is important to help make the tutorial a real class and not just a bunch of independent studies.
 

3. De Botton

Post by Sept. 20

Read the first three chapters of Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel

For your post, write something in response—a reflection on his themes, a little story illustrating one of those themes, etc.  This book is one of the inspirations behind our tutorial (as you can tell by the title).  The book is available online through the NYU library by going to this link. You may need to download a special piece of software to access the book.  If you're having trouble accessing the book via the NYU server, below are pdf versions of the firs three chapters.

Remember to scroll to the Art of Travel in the "classes" box and to "de Botton" in the "topics" box.

Write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

4. Open Topic

Post by Sept. 25

Write about whatever you want—a travel story, reflections on the place you’re studying, a comment on something you’ve read about travel, etc. If you’re looking for an idea, here are a couple:

Tell a travel story in which you played a part, but from the point of view of someone else in the story. (The “I” in the story is not you but your friend, the cab driver, the person who sat next to you on the train, etc.

Write a story about an encounter between two people (one could be you, but it could be about another student) who don’t speak the same language. Describe the gestures that were used to try to convey meaning, or write about what happened as a result of a misunderstanding, or how we tend to create a meaning when we’re not sure of the intended one.

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

5. Discuss a reading (1)

Post by Oct. 1

Write about one of the books you’re reading for the tutorial. (You don’t have to finish the book to do this.) The Suggested Reading list is here.  If you want to read a book not on the list, please get approval in advance.  The post shouldn't be a summary or recommendation—instead, focus on what the book has to say about the experience of travel in the place you're living, or how it represents the place, or how it may contribute to your understanding of the place.

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.
 

6. Quotidian life

Post by Oct. 6

Write about some of the quotidian, everyday, nitty-gritty details of your life abroad: what’s your apartment like, how far from school are you, how do you get there, how much do things cost, what costs much more or less than it does in New York, what is the classroom building like, what do you do in the evening when you’re not studying, where do you hang out, etc., etc.?

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

7. The "art" of travel

Post by Oct. 13

For this post, write about art—paintings, drawings, photographs, artifacts, etc.—associated with the place you're studying—work by a artist who lived there (or lives there now), or work that depicts the place (as in a landscape painting).  Hopefully you've already been to a museum where you are; if not, it's about time.  You could write about a trip to a museum: the experience of going there, what you saw, what you're learning about the art of the place you've living, etc.   Or you could write about a particular work: How is the place you're living represented in the painting?  How does art works like this affect your perception of the place?  To get your thoughts going on this assignment, read: Alaine de Botton, from The Art of Travel, chapter 7: “On Eye-Opening Art” (available in the ebrary here or pdf below).

As always, remember comment on someone else's post.

Alaine Botton, Art of Travel, chapter 7, Eye Opening Art.pdf

8. Open Topic

Post by Oct. 18

Write about whatever you want—a travel story, reflections on the place you’re studying, a comment on something you’ve read about travel, etc.

9. Authenticity

Post by Oct. 23

Read Dean MacCannell's “Staged Authenticity: Arrangements of Social Space in Tourist Settings." (That link requires an NYU Bobcat login; if that link doesn't work, try this one: MacCannel Staged Authenticity.)  Write about MacCannell’s thesis that travel and tourism are related to spiritual pilgrimages, and that what the traveler seeks is a secularized version of the sacred—“authenticity.”   For example, think about your experience abroad in terms of the traveler's desire to get into an "authentic back region," or give some personal examples of some of the six stages on MacCannell's continuum of front-to-back regions, or write about an experience in which you encountered "staged authenticity."  (By the way, the first few pages of the article are rather slow going, but it gets better—and the article was later developed into one of the most famous sociology books about tourism—The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class.  And this link will take you to Google Books, where you can read more passages from the book.)
 

10. Open Topic

Post by Oct. 28

Write about whatever you want—a travel story, reflections on the place you’re studying, a comment on something you’ve read about travel, etc.  If you want to try out something different, check out this list of suggestions for "experimental travel" from Lonely Planet.  Some of them are pretty out there and would lead to a very interesting post.  As always, remember to comment on someone else's blog.

11. Discuss a reading (2)

Post by Nov. 3

Write about one of the books you’re reading for the tutorial. Since the other students in the group may be unfamiliar with the book, say a few words about what the book is about, then focus on something more specific relating to how the book represents the place you're living now.  You might quote an interesting passage where the place is described and comment on it, or write about how the book's depiction of the place is similar to or different from your own experience of the place, or (if it's a travel book) write about the author's experiences traveling in your place.    The Suggested Reading list is here.  If you want to read a book not on the list, please get approval in advance.   As always, remember to comment on someone else's blog.

12. Open topic

Post by Nov. 8

Write about whatever you want—a travel story, reflections on the place you’re studying, a comment on something you’ve read about travel, etc.   As always, remember to comment on someone else's blog.

13. Place

Post by Nov. 13

Describe a place in the country you’re living.  It could be a room, a building, a block, a neighborhood, an architectural treasure, a café, the place where classes are held. As you’re working on the piece, take a look at some of the travel books you’re reading and see how these authors describe places.

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

14. Person

Post by Nov. 18

Describe a person you’ve encountered who’s from the country where you’re living.  It could be a new friend, a teacher, someone who works in your neighborhood. It doesn’t have to be someone you know well—maybe you’ve never even spoken with the person.  Try to convey how the person seems typical of the people in this culture and how the person seems atypical as well.  As you’re working on the piece, take a look at some of the travel books you’re reading and see how these authors describe people.

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

15. On habit

Post by Nov. 23

Read the chapter "On Habit" in de Botton's Art of Travel (available in the NYU ebrary here or below as a pdf—log in and click on the title of the assignment at the top of the page to see it) and write a response.

Remember to write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

De Botton, ch. 9, On Habit.pdf

16. Thanksgiving story

Post by Dec. 1.

Write a story about what you did over Thanksgiving (either on Thanksgiving day or over the weekend break).

Include a picture, either from another website or one of your own.

Write a comment on someone else’s blog post.

17. Advice

Post by Dec. 6.

Write a post giving advice to other students planning to study where you are.  Would you recommend this study-abroad site?  What would it help if they knew in advance?  What do you wish someone had told you?  If there are choices about where to live, what would you recommend?  What tips do you have about preparing in the weeks and months before the abroad semester begins?  What places have you discovered that you want to tell people about—bars, clubs, parks, museums, neighborhoods, etc.?

Post a comment on someone else’s blog.
 

18. Final Thoughts & Evaluation

Post by Dec. 13.

Write some final reflections about your study abroad experience, and say a few words about doing the Art of Travel course.  Some possible questions to consider: What was the most rewarding aspect of the experience? What were the biggest problems you faced? What do you think you’ll do differently when you get back home? What will you take note of at home that you weren’t noticing before? What do you think you’ll remember years from now? What might NYU do to make study abroad a better program?

Include a picture.

Post a comment on someone else’s blog