This course will explore travel writing using a variety of texts, including essays, memoirs, blogs, photo essays, and narratives. We will examine cultural representations of travel as well as the ethical implications of tourism that arise in the exploration of our modern world. Throughout the course, we will ponder questions like:

What is the relationship between travel writer, reader, inhabitant, and place? How can we use writing to navigate these relationships?

What is the role of “outsider” in travel writing?

How does travel writing encourage us to see ourselves differently?

How can we use the best of travel writing—the sense of discovery, voice, narrative suspense—in other forms of writing, including academic essays?

Can travel writing evoke political and social change?

Students will have the opportunity to write about their own travel experiences and to embark on their own “local travel” projects. As the semester unfolds, I hope we will revise and refine our views, paying close attention to how we put words together to write powerfully and engagingly about travel.