Approved by Faculty Senate January 26, 2004

Approved by Faculty Senate January 26, 2004.

History 467

Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands

A University Studies Writing Flag Course

Catalogue Description

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to study select British and American travelers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who visited an wrote about “Exotic” places such as South America, Mexico, Africa, or the South Sea Islands. The course explores what happens to these writers at the “point of contact” and will critique their subsequent evaluations of the different cultures that they visited.

General Course Information

History 467, Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands, is a writing flag course in the WSU University Studies Program. The course requires students to examine and analyze travel writing, and apply their analysis to a travel writer of their own choosing. Students will read at least one piece of travel writing written by the author they selected, as well as critiques of that work. Students are also required to utilize the analysis of class materials as preparation for writing a 15 to 20 page paper as their final project in the course.

As a writing flag course, History 467, Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands, is taught in a section of 20 students at a maximum that allows for clear guidance, criteria, and feedback. Each student turns in a rough draft of their final paper roughly at week 12, meets with the instructor in an individual conference, and then has an opportunity to rewrite their paper after receiving that feedback. In addition, students also do other in-class writing assignments such as short essays throughout the semester.

Writing Flag courses must include requirements and learning activities that promote student abilities to:

a)  practice the process and procedures for creating and completing successful writing in their fields;

b)  understand the main features and uses of writing in their fields;

c)  adapt their writing to the general expectations of readers in their fields;

d)  make use of the technologies commonly used for research and writing in their fields; and;

e)  learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation in their fields.

Rationale

a)  Students will practice the processes and procedures for creating and completing successful writing in their fields.

Students will practice the conventions of historical writing in this class. They will practice historical research by examining secondary sources describing the places and historical situations in which the authors found themselves. They will examine critical accounts of the travel writing and use their own analytical skills in preparing the final paper. They will learn to use citation forms appropriately and will produce a scholarly paper that fits into the theoretical framework outlined in the course discussions.

b)  Students will understand the main features and uses of writing in their fields

Students will learn the main features and uses of historical writing by reading exemplary travel writing and writing a lengthy paper analyzing a piece of travel writing of their own choice. The well known travel pieces read in class will emphasize the tools of the writers’ trade, as well as examine the point of view that the author brings to the subject. Analyzing this initial “moment of contact” is one of the critical components of the course.

c)  Students will adapt their writing to the general expectation of readers in their fields.

By writing a lengthy paper analyzing a piece of travel writing, students will learn to write in a logical, concise, and accurate fashion. The class work and the writing exercise will require students to look analytically at the text, and make their writing concise and accurate. In addition, requiring students to employ their own analysis will leave room for individual interpretation which is essential for a meaningful historical work.

d)  Students will make use of the technologies commonly used for research and writing in their fields.

Students will gain familiarity with the substantial and growing body of primary and secondary materials available on the World Wide Web. They will use various technologies to make inquiries about the secondary sources and reviews of their subject.

e)  Students will learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation in their fields.

Students will learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation of historical writing by applying the techniques discussed in this class for analyzing texts. The papers will require that the students use standard formats, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, and require that their conclusions be properly documented. The students will conclude the course with a firm understanding of how to analyze a piece of travel writing.

FOREIGN TRAVELERS IN “EXOTIC” LANDS

History 467, Course Syllabus

Dr. Alexander von Humboldt

3 S.H.

A University Writing Flag Course

Catalogue Description

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to study select British and American travelers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who visited and wrote about “Exotic” places such as South America, Mexico, Africa, or the South Sea Islands. The course explores what happens to these writers at the “point of contact” and will critique their subsequent evaluations of the different cultures that they visited.

University Studies Writing Flag Information

History 467, Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands, is a writing flag course in the WSU University Studies Program. The course requires students to examine and analyze travel writing, and apply their analysis to a travel writer of their own choosing. Students will read at least one piece of travel writing written by the author they selected, as well as critiques of that work. Students are also required to utilize the analysis of class materials as preparation for writing a 15 to 20 page paper as their final project in the course.

As a writing flag course, History 467, Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands, is taught in a section of 20 students at a maximum that allows for clear guidance, criteria, and feedback. Each student turns in rough draft of their final paper roughly at week 12, meets with the instructor in an individual conference, and then has an opportunity to rewrite their paper after receiving that feedback. In addition, students also do other in-class writing assignments such as short essays throughout the semester.

Writing Flag courses must include requirements and learning activities that promote students’ abilities to:

a)  practice the process and procedures for creating and completing successful writing in their fields;

b)  understand the main features and uses of writing in their fields;

c)  adapt their writing to the general expectation of readers in their fields;

d)  make use of the technologies commonly used for research and writing in their fields and;

e)  learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation in their fields.

General Course Information

History 467, Foreign Travelers in “Exotic” Lands, is a course that will help you become proficient in conducting basic historical research in primary and secondary sources, focusing on the types of sources peculiar to travel writing. You will also be required to employ the analytical tools placed at your disposal as a result of your exposure to class materials and discussion. In addition, you will become knowledgeable of appropriate ways to document your general conclusions. During the semester, students successfully completing this course will be able to:

Examine primary sources, and particularly the travelogue(s) written by your chosen author, and analyze them for context and content;

Gain familiarity with secondary sources who have written about your subject, his or her times, or his or her historical circumstances;

Learn about the four basic types of travel writing, (survival, scientific, exploitative, and sentimental) and determine the criteria that a critic might use to analyze a piece of travel writing;

Write and rewrite a critical paper based on your own original, scholarly work;

Use proper citation forms for primary and secondary sources;

Sharpen your skills in writing exemplary prose in concluding this project.

Course Materials

Von Humboldt, Alexander. Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent.

Perez, Louis. Impressions of Cuba in the Nineteenth Century

Hahner, June. Women through Women’s Eyes

Park, Mungo. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa

Graham, Maria. A French Woman in Brazil

Evaluation

30% Midterm and Final Examination

20% In-class essays and quizzes on readings

10% Class Participation

40% Final Version of Paper

Preliminary Course Schedule:

(In parentheses is the letter of the criterion or criteria this assignment addresses for the Writing Flag)

Week One: Orientalism and other Recent Theories

Week Two: Von Humboldt and Early Nineteenth Century Travel, (b)

Week Three: The Scientific Traveler (b, e)

Week Four: Von Humboldt and his other observations, Von Humboldt, complete his travelogue (b, e)

Week Five: Observations of Slavery, Complete Perez (c, e)

Week Six: Women Travelers and their Observations, Read Hahner (c, e)

Week Seven: Other Women Travelers, Read Hahner, Begin research (b, d)

Week Eight: Women on Plantations, Complete Hahner (b, d)

Week Nine: The Traveler as Educator (b, e)

Week Ten: Africa as a Source of Travelogues, Read Park (b, c, e)

Week Eleven: Africa and Exploitation, Read Park (b,e)

Week Twelve: A Final View of Africa, Complete Park: First Draft of Paper Due (a,b,c,d,e)

Week Thirteen: The Observer in the South Seas, Individual Conferences (a,b,c,d,e)

Week Fourteen: Visiting Brazil, Read Graham, Revised Papers due (a,b,c,d,e)