UWS 66A: Travel and Self-DiscoveryInstructor: Collin Cook Prerequisites: None Course Description: The ocean, the open road, and the automobile all entice us to travel. From Thelma and Louise, a female buddy road crime film, to acclaimed food critic Anthony Bourdain, who samples foods from across the globe, travel has long worked in popular culture to offer the tantalizing possibilities of reinvention, of getting lost, of escape into the new. However, travel is more than just a romantic fantasy about self-transformation. In fact, British travel essayist Pico Iyer argues that our travel experiences are always structured by our preconceptions about ourselves and the world; for Iyer, we can never completely escape from ourselves. Building on the ideas of Iyer and others, we will investigate what we do when we travel and the motivations that drive the urge to explore. How does travel relate to identity, gender, and self-discovery? In this course, we will probe this question and others by watching films and reading texts from a variety of genres and disciplines, examining the desires, pressures, and delusions that propel us to hit the open road or take flight. Building on ideas from the course, students will be encouraged to write papers that engage with issues related to travel and self-exploration that they find compelling. Session: Session I Day: M, T, Th Time: 1:50pm - 4:20pm Credit Hours: 4 Credits Course Format: Remote Learning Course for Summer 2024 Brandeis Graduation Requirement Fulfilled: UWS Enrollment Limit: 10 students Course Classification: Undergraduate Level Course Course Tuition: $3,700 Course Fees: None Open to High School Students: No |
