AFRC108 - STUDY OF A THEME: TALES OF STUDY ABROAD

Study of a Literary Theme- For many of us, the first experience of travel is imaginary, through the portal of a novel, film, or memoir. This course combinesthese narratives of travel and stories of coming of age. At the center of our exploration will the contemporary rise of Study Abroad programs in U.S. universities. We'll place this in historical context as we consider how cross-cultural encounters have been portrayed, with particular attention to authors of color from the U.S. and the global South. No previous travel experience is assumed other than imaginative; this course is open to students, freshman to senior, from all majors -- especially the undeclared. Materials well consider together include selections from Don Quixote (the adventures of a knight errant and his servant in Spain by Miguel Cervantes), James Baldwin (an African American in Switzerland and France), Samuel Selvon (a Trinidadian in the UK), Faith Adiele (a Nigerian-American in Burma), Amitav Ghosh (an Indian in Egypt) and Kiana Davenport (a Hawaiian in France). These readings will be complemented by films including two versions of Around the World in in Eighty Days, The Motorcycle Diaries, Roman Holiday and Touki Bouki. Assignments will include regular journal entries and 2 essays.