SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor

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1 1 SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor To travel is very useful,it makes the imagination work, the rest is just delusion and pain. Our journey is entirely imaginary, which is its strength. (Celine's Journey to the End of Night) Voyage: Fall 2014 Discipline: English Literature ENLT 2555: Travel Literature Division: Lower Faculty Name: Reade W. Dornan Credit Hours: 3; Contact Hours: 38 Time: 9:25-10:40 on A Days COURSE DESCRIPTION Fellow travelers will read extracts from journals, diaries and books by 19th and 20th century tourists, explorers and adventurers on the countries we're visiting. Throughout the semester, we will read how these writers have dealt with issues of difference and compare our reactions to their observations. Selections cover a wide range of readings from accounts by and about 19th century intrepid lady travelers of Britain to Columbus' first voyage to the New World. A particular emphasis will also be placed on navigation and mapmaking as crucial to exploration. Lectures will include information about authors' biographies and their historical contexts. Discussions cover the authors' perspectives as "outsiders" in "strange lands" and their writing styles. Some time in the course will also be given to an understanding of additional topics such as navigating the seas, gender and travel, and imperialistic exploitation. Assigned writings include weekly responses to the readings, which are personal narratives, and self-reflections about ourselves as an outsiders looking in, and the Field Lab letter. The final project is a 4-6 page paper on one country that explores the key philosophical questions of the course raised by Appiah at the beginning and connecting it to their readings and field lab by the end of the semester. COURSE OBJECTIVES To ground the trip in ethical questions about travel To develop an awareness of Cosmopolitanism To read a variety of stylistic approaches to travel writing To give travelers a focused theme for each of our onshore visits To offer political, geographical, and historical introductions to some countries that we visit as interpreted through the writings of earlier travelers To read travel writing relevant to the countries we visit To write a variety of responses to the readings To grasp the technological importance of mapmaking To reflect on the experience of judging and encountering the "Other" in travel 1

2 To complete an I-Search paper on one of the countries using a range of available sources travel brochures, credible Internet information, personal experience, in-country interviews, books and magazines collected incountry, etc. 2 REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: Appiah, Kwame Anthony TITLE: Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers PUBLISHER: W.W. Norton ISBN #: pbk. DATE/EDITION: AUTHOR: Calvino, Italo TITLE: Invisible Cities PUBLISHER: Harcourt ISBN# DATE/EDITION: 1974 (English Translation) AUTHOR: Cowan, James TITLE: Mapmaker's Dream: The Meditations of Fra Mauro, Cartographer to the Court of Venice PUBLISHER: Shambala ISBN # DATE/EDITION: 1996 AUTHOR: Cohen, J.M., editor and translator TITLE: The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus PUBLISHER: Penguin ISBN # pbk. DATE/EDITION: 1987 AUTHOR: Mernissi, Fatima TITLE: Beyond the Veil: Male/Female Dynamics in a Muslim Society PUBLISHER: Indian University Press, revised edition ISBN-13 #: DATE/EDITION: 1987 And a coursepack of readings available digitally through the ship's Intranet TOPICAL OUTLINE OF THE COURSE Travel Literature focuses on clusters of readings from three continents--europe, Africa, and South America. The general theme for the course is the question of difference--how can we as outsiders gain a fair-minded perspective on the inhabitants we're meeting? What do we talk about when we talk about difference? Is any form or relativism right? When do morals and manners clash? Can culture be "owned"? What do we owe strangers by virtue of our shared humanity? A1- August 25: Introduction to the course and Introduction to Appiah 2

3 3 A2-August 27: The Ethics of Travel (St. Petersburg) Read Chapters 1-5 (before you come to class) A3- August 29: Read to the end of Appiah Write a two-page position paper answering any one of the six questions at the top of p. xxi: How real are values? What do we talk about when we talk about difference? Is any form or relativism right? When do morals and manners clash? Can culture be "owned"? What do we owe strangers by virtue of our shared humanity? *A4 -September 3: Read Mark Twain (Germany) Read Chapts. IV, V, VI, VII on student life in 19th century Heidelberg and dueling from A Tramp Abroad. This book is available for free at Gutenberg.org, but you must download it before we board the ship. *A5- September 10: Read "The War" from The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by [Gertrude Stein], (Northern Europe/France) *A6- September 12: Read "The Parisian" by Alden Brooks from The Fighting Men (1917) in Google books and "Patterns," a poem by Amy Lowell from " Men, Women, and Ghosts (1916). *A7- September 20: Read Parts 5-6 in Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino *A8-September 22: Read Paul Theroux Kingdom by the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain, Chapters (Dublin, Ireland) Discussion: The "troubles" in Northern Ireland A9: September 28: Read Halliburton (Lisbon and Cadiz) Royal Road to Romance (1925), Chapters VI-XIl, pp Discussion: Callow Young Men Abroad: Does that life still exist? *A10- September 30: Read Beyond the Veil by Fatima Mernissi, Part One A11- October 7: Read Beyond the Veil by Fatima Mernissi (Casablanca), Part Two October 8: Field Lab: Visit and observe in three public spaces in Casablanca (the National Mosque, the Souk, and the University) A12- October 13: Discussion Follow-up to Field Lab: The Uses of Ethnographic Research *A13- October 15: Read Mary Kingsley, Travels in West Africa, Chapters 12 through 15 on her ethnological research, "Fetish," available on gutenberg.org but you must download this text before boarding the ship. Discussion: Old-time Anthropological studies *A14- October 21: Read Dorothy Middleton's Victorian Lady Travellers, Part 5 Discussion: The gutsy 19th century British lady Abroad *A15- October 23: Read Teddy Roosevelt's diary, African Game Trails, Chapters I, II, and IV 3

4 (pp and ). 4 A16- October 29: Read Shackleton's The Endurance, Part VI (Crossing the Atlantic) A16/A17-October 29 & October 31: Shackleton's The Endurance, Part VII and the Epilogue In class: See parts of PBS Film Chasing Shackleton Part 3. & The Endurance A18-November 3: Read Jonathan Cowan's edition of A Mapmaker's Dream, Chapts *A19- November 5: Read Jonathan Cowan's A Mapmaker's Dream, Chapt. 12 to end 11 (the paper for Mapmaker's Dream is due today) *A20- November 15: Read Up de Graf's, Headhunters of the Amazon (Rio de Janeiro and San Salvador), pp In class: South American Explorers, especially Humboldt First three pages of your rough draft for the Final Project is due. I'm looking for a correct overall format for the paper and whether you have constructed strong initial questions for it. *A21- November 17: Read Mary Louise Pratt's Chapter 6 on Humboldt in Imperial Eyes Travel Writing and Transculturation, pp In class: More on Humboldt *A22- November 20: Read a digest of Columbus' Diaries, first voyage to p (Barbados) *A23- November 25: Read Humboldt's Observations on Cuban Slavery (Cuba), ): Excerpts from Alexander von Humboldt's Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years , Chapt. 3.1 "Cuba's Slave Trade" downloaded from Gutenberg.org, but only if you download before boarding the ship. A24- November 27: Class Presentations on their Final Project Discussion-- Why do we travel? Where are the "Contact Zones"? What do we gain from them? A25- December 4 (Finals): FIELD LAB The Field Lab is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Please do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of our field lab. Our field lab in Casablanca, Morocco is on October 8, Save that date. FIELD LAB DESCRIPTION Before arriving in Casablanca, we will read the contested Beyond the Veil by Fatima Mernissi., challenged for her depictions of male/female uses of public spaces in Islamic culture. To demonstrate the complexity of relations in a big Islamic city, we will use ethnographic methodology to observe behaviors among men and women around the center of Casablanca--in upscale and everyday market places, around the University of Hassan II, and in the National Mosque, which has baths and rooms for praying set aside for as many as 5,000 women--and compare our experiences to our impressions of that culture before 4

5 visiting Morocco. 5 FIELD LAB OBJECTIVES 1. To read Mernissi's text Beyond the Veil about male/female relations in a Muslim society. 2. To visit the Mosque Hassan II, a souk, and the University of Hassan II with an ethnographic focus 3. To dispel some myths about the treatment of females in a Muslim country as progressive as Morocco 4. To talk about what we can and cannot know from a brief ethnographic study 5. To write a 3-4 page letter to Mernissi comparing first-hand experiences of public spaces to her study 6. To ground the paper in Appiah's ethical questions about travel. FIELD LAB ASSIGNMENTS 1. Read and discuss Mernissi's Beyond the Veil 2. Discuss the goals and methods of ethnographic research 3. Participate in the tour of three public spaces in Casablanca 4. Discuss findings in follow-up class 5. Write a 3-4 page letter to Mernissi METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC To earn a passing grade in this class, you must accomplish ALL of the basic assignments: 1) participate fully in the field lab report and write about it in a 3-4 page letter that covers Beyond the Veil, your experiences, and Appiah's concepts; 2) write a complete 4-5 page" I-Search" paper on one country & present on it in class 3) participate fully in class discussions and maintain regular attendance (only 2 unexcused absences). IN ADDITION, YOU MUST COMPLETE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: To earn a D in this class, students must also write 2-3 page responses to 9/14 readings To earn a C in this class, students must also write 2-3 page responses to 10/14 readings To earn a B in this class, students must also write 2-3 page responses to 11/14 readings To earn an A in this class, students must also write 2-3 page responses to 12/14 readings All papers are graded on a pass/fail basis. To receive a "pass" on the response papers, the final project and the field report, a writer should engage with the texts in ways that demonstrate a thoughtful understanding of them. Papers should show real effort (more than meeting the minimum), be well written and "original" with the author (see statement on plagiarism below). The final project should likewise be serious and address readings including Appiah's views as well as offer findings about the country one chooses to cover. ATTENDANCE: You are permitted TWO absences without question. Please save those days for emergencies-- heavy study schedule, external activities, long shore time--allow excused absences ONLY for serious illness accompanied by a doctor's excuse or another equally serious event. Excess absences reduce your final grade in the course by a half grade (-.5) for each time 5

6 missed beyond the allotted one. An absence for the final presentation could mean a significant decline in your grade. If you are having problems attending the class or reading the selections, please discuss new arrangements with me. The Honor System assumes that you do your own thinking, reading, and writing in this course. Plagiarism is the use of material that is in part or whole not entirely your own work without crediting those same portions to the original source. You must credit ALL ideas, sequences of ideas, wording, facts, opinions and any other intellectual property to the person or group of people who generated them. This applies to taking material verbatim from the Internet and to short phrases that you might borrow from another source, as well as to full length sentences or whole paragraphs. Failure to treat your information sources honestly is a serious breach of academic protocol and could lead to failure in the whole course. If you have any doubt about how to treat your sources honestly, please ask me to read your paper before you hand it in for credit. LATE PAPERS are accepted only in case of very serious illness or if unmanageable circumstances, such as the ship's schedule, makes the deadline too difficult to meet. You glean little benefit from a personal response paper after the class discussion, therefore papers are due at the BEGINNING of class. RESERVE LIBRARY LIST AUTHOR: [Gertrude Stein] ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: "War" JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas DATE: 1933, copyright renewed in 1961 AUTHOR: Kingsley, Mary. TITLE: Travels in West Africa PUBLISHER: National Geographic (Adventure Classic) ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2002 AUTHOR: Lansing, Alfred. TITLE: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage DATE/EDITON: Whatever you have in SAS stacks AUTHOR: Middleton, Dorothy. TITLE: Victorian Lady Travellers PUBLISHER: Academy Chicago Publishers ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 1993 ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS - Many of these materials for the Intranet Electronic Coursepack are available at Gutenberg.org. If you cannot access some of the chapters, I can send 6 6

7 7 you photocopies. I know I'll need to get permissions from Alfred Lansing, Gertrude Stein, and PaulTheroux. AUTHOR: Brooks, Alden EDITOR: Edited with an Introduction by Ernest Hemingway ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: "The Parisian" JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time DATE: 1955 AUTHOR: Halliburton, Richard. ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: "Spanish Dancing" "New Tales from the Alhambra," "The Sirens of Seville," "The Jails of Gibraltar," "The Count of Monte Carlo." JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Royal Road to Romance DATE: 1925 PAGES: Chapts. VII-XI, pp AUTHOR: Kingsley, Mary TITLE: Travels in West Africa JOURNAL/CHAPTER TITLE: All the sections on "Fetish" (chapters 12-16, incl.) VOLUME: Available copyright free at Gutenberg.org, but download before we sail. DATE: 1895 AUTHOR: Lansing, Alfred ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Part VI, Chapters 1-6 JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage PAGES: pp DATE: 1959 AUTHOR: Middleton, Dorothy. ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: "Mary Kingsley" " JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Victorian Lady Travellers DATE: 1993 PAGES: pp AUTHOR: Pratt, Mary Louise ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Chapter 6 JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation DATE: 1992 AUTHOR: Roosevelt, Theodore ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Chapters I-II and IV JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: African Game Trails VOLUME: Scribner's DATE: 1910 (possibly available on the Internet) PAGES: 1-66 and (I can send photocopies if you do not have this volume). 7

8 8 AUTHOR: [Gertrude Stein] ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: "War" JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas DATE: 1933, copyright renewed in 1961 PAGES: pp AUTHOR: Theroux, Paul. ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Chapters JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Kingdom by the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain DATE: 1983 PAGES: AUTHOR: Up de Graf, F.W. ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: XIX-XXIV JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Headhunters of the Amazon DATE:1923 PAGES: AUTHOR: von Humboldt, Alexander. ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Section 3.1 "Cuba's Slave Trade" JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years Free download from gutenberg.org, but you must download this section before we sail. DATE: