1/24/14
AMST143b
The American Tourist: Encounters with People, Culture, and Place
Room Brown 224
Time Tuesday & Friday 12:30 – 1:50
Instructor: Dr. Jillian Powers
Office: Brown 326
Office Hours: Monday 11:00 – 1:00, Tuesday & Friday 11:00-12:00, 2:00-4:00, or by appointment
Course Description:
Tourism is more than just sun and sand frivolity. Tourism is a major cultural and economic force shaping our world and how we experience it. This course provides students with a multidisciplinary overview of touristic theory, practice, and analysis. We will focus on assumptions of tourism and touristic forms of travel, the role of tourism for American national identity, American tourists abroad, the narration and commodification of place, and encounters between tourists and natives.
Topics and questions covered in this course include, but are not limited to:
-What is tourism?
-How do meanings get ascribed to places?
-How is culture turned into a commodity available for purchase?
-What are the effects of tourism on locals, tourists, and their larger environs?
-What role does tourism play in local economies?
-Is there an ethics to tourism?
-What are the costs, benefits and controversies of tourism?
Tourism offers a means of defining America and traveling offers a way to define the self. Using the object of study as the medium of study we will first direct our critical eye to Brandeis. Is Brandeis a site of tourism? What do we learn when we see our own community through the lens of tourism? After reviewing canonical texts and applying readings to our own university community, students will challenge themselves by critically examining local tours, themed experiences, or tour sites of their choosing in order to unpack the semiotic, interpersonal, and cultural dimensions presented. Our work will culminate in the final scrapbook—How I spent my Spring Semester—a truly touristic final product that presents and analyzes key tropes and themes within touristic imagery.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
-Utilize scholarship in American Studies and other disciplines to construct and support your own arguments about tourism and tourists’ experiences
-Make connections between theory and everyday life
-“Read a text” by utilizing a variety of approaches to understand touristic presentations
-Recognize and articulate more nuanced representations of tourists, travel, tourism markets, and move beyond the binaries of high/low travel.
-Improve critical reading and writing skills
Class Format: Lecture, class discussions, on-location tourism adventures, in-class presentations
Course Requirements:
- Complete all readings and actively participate in discussions 10%
- Daily Reading Memos5%
- Brandeis Tour Essay10%
- Travelogue 30%
- Boston Travel Content Analysis 10%
- Tourism and Tourists in Popular Culture Essay5%
- Culminating Scrapbook (plus revisions)30%
Participation, attendance and classroom engagement: Readings are to be completed before the class period for which they are assigned. Attendance is a crucial aspect of class and you are expected to come prepared, ready to engage, and willing to participate in a respectful and thoughtful manner. Three unexcused absences will result in the deduction of a whole letter grade from your overall score (An ‘A’ will be reduced to a ‘B’). Five or more unexcused absences, you fail the course. Please send me an email if you are unable to attend class. Treat this course like any standing appointment, I do not care why you do not come, but please contact me regarding your absence at least one hour before class begins (otherwise it is unexcused). There will be an attendance sheet passed out each class period. You are responsible for signing only your name on the attendance sheet. Attendance policy begins after add/drop period.
Memos: For each class period you will draft a short outline of the material covered to help facilitate class discussion. Summarize the main objectives/research questions/scholarly perspectives, methodologies, and findings and conclusions (to the best of your ability) and draft a few thoughtful questions or concerns to discuss in class. These are supposed to be rough and will not be graded for style or writing – use these to work on your comprehension and to pose questions that intrigue you or confuse you. If you focus on what you find most intriguing and what you find most confusing, you will come to class prepared and ready to engage.
Each memo should be about a page. Make sure to write the date and your name on each submission. Email this to me by MIDNIGHT the night before class. Throughout the semester you must submit 16 memos—use your free days wisely. It is your responsibility to keep track of your memo tally—any missing memos will negatively influence your grade.
Brandeis Tour Essay: We will treat the university campus as a site of tourism and see the campus three different ways on three different tours. Keep a travelogue of our tours around campus and submit an essay that compares these tours. What sort of image/narratives do we get from these different tours? How does your role as tourist influence how you see this space you are familiar with? Use photos and ethnographic vignettes from your tour experiences to explain and elucidate your points. Due March 25 by Midnight.
Travelogue: Keep a separate notebook/journal to use as a travelogue. Explore three local tour sites/experiences and two sites/experiences wherever you happen to spend your Spring Break (for a total of 5). Document your experience on/at these sites. You can study a souvenir shop, a restaurant, a tour site, ghost tours, pizza tours, museums or memorials, anything! In these essays examine the practices that assign meaning to place, the interactions that form the context of the touristic encounter and experience, and the cultural practices associated with touring and the tourism industry. When we act as tourists we attribute explicit meaning to sites that we might otherwise take for granted. How is the space being used to advance a certain narrative? Does the narrative or presentation change depending on the visiting group? What actors are involved in the creation of this narrative? Are other narratives vying for attention, why does one narrative gain traction while others fail? What is the history of this event/location? How is place, people, or history “themed”? What is the meaning of place? How is this place being presented? Whose story is being told and who gets to frame it?What souvenirs are available, what is photographed? Share photos and narrative accounts of your experience. Your final travelogue should include 3 Brandeis tours and 5 independent tours. Due April 25 in class. Will be returned on April 29th so you can work on your final project.
Let’s Go Boston Content Analysis: Find a travel article exploring Boston or the surrounding areas. What attractions, events, sites, or activities are discussed? What is being promoted? What are the assumptions of the type of tourist this sort of experience would attract? How is Boston narrated? Use examples from the article to support your analysis. Due February 11 by Midnight.
Tourism and Tourists in Popular Culture Essay: How have tourism and travel been used as subject matter in American popular culture? In this assignment first present then examine a piece of popular culture. What is this about, why is it significant? What larger narratives, metaphors, images are being presented and displayed and for what ends? How does your own subjectivity influence your reading of this cultural object? After these are collected, as a class we will vote and chose one and view it together (time permitting). Be creative in your choice and concise and clear in your writing. 1-5 pages. Place in LATTE Forum so everyone can access. Due March 4 by Midnight.
Final Scrapbook: How I spent my Spring Semester: Create a culminating scrapbook that reflects upon and analyzes all your touristic adventures. Use photos, excerpts from your travelogue, citations, quotes, and theories from class in order to first present your experiences and then analyze them. You can work in any medium you enjoy, just be focused and have a “so what.” This can be truly a scrapbook, or you can create something in any application or on-line format. I personally think Prezi might work well here (we can discuss this later in the semester). Scrapbook presentations are due the last two days of class, final scrapbook due May 13.
The final scrapbook will be graded on the following criteria:
-Organization, presentation and writing skills
-“Thick description” and detail. Show!
-Analyze and critique using course readings and materials (outside sources a plus!)
-A well referenced and properly cited reference section
-Creativity!
Late Policy: All coursework must be completed on time unless we have come to an agreement before the due date. Any late coursework will not be accepted after the final day of class.
Evaluations
Your final grade will be determined by your performance on the above requirements. All assignments will be graded on a standard scale of 0 to 100 (except the memos).
The final grade will be given using the letter grade system standard at Brandeis University. The table below shows how the numeric grades will be converted into letter grades:
97-100A+
93-96A
90-92A-
87-89B+
83-86B
80-82B-
77-79C+
73-76C
70-72C-
67-69D+
63-66D
60-62D-
below 59F
University Policies
Academic Accommodations: If you are a student who has academic accommodations because of a documented disability, please contact me during the first two weeks of the semester and give me a copy of your letter of accommodation. Federal law and university policy require provision of reasonable accommodation for students with diagnosed learning disabilities that may affect how they participate in the class or meet class requirements. I encourage students who believe they need such accommodation to contact the Academic Services Office early in the term. Detailed information on policies, procedures, and resources related to learning disabilities can be found at this link:
If you have any questions regarding documenting a disability, contact Beth Rodgers-Kay in the undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (x63470, ). Accommodations cannot be granted retroactively.
University Policy on Academic Integrity: You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity. You are expected to turn in work that is completed, written, and designed by you! This means use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or ideas found in published volumes on the Internet or created by another student.[1] I will refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Academic Affairs.
Violations of may result in failure of the course or on the assignment or in suspension or dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in the course, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification. Do not test me! Ask if you have any concerns before compromising your undergraduate experience!
See:
I encourage all students to visit the Brandeis writing center if you would like to improve your writing.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
Laptops, PDAs, cell phones, headphones, and all other technological distractions MUST BE OFF AND AWAY at all times during class-time.
On Classroom Community
I ask you to keep the following points in mind:
1.Students are expected to serve as resources for each other and fully commit to the collaborative and supportive community required to successfully complete a course/project of this nature
2.Be aware that understanding arguments made in the readings does not require accepting those arguments. Indeed, even if you disagree with an argument, you must first understand it to make a reasoned critique. Do not simply dismiss them.
3.Opinions are not acceptable arguments in discussion. If you wish to critique a concept, you must provide some evidence or data from the readings (or outside material, if you so wish, as long as it is scholarly). Do not be afraid, however, to speculate on potential consequences or impacts based upon existing data or to inquire about the existence or quality of data with regard to an argument.
Required Texts
Gottdiener, Mark. 2001. The Theming of America. Westview Press.
Kincaid, Jamaica. 2000. A Small Place. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Kelner, Shaul. 2012. Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage, and Israeli Birthright Tourism. New York University Press.
MacCannell, Dean. 1999. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. University of California Press.
Shaffer, Marguerite. 2001. See American First: Tourism and National Identity 1880-1940. Smithsonian Books
Course Schedule
Syllabus and schedule subject to change, the most recent version can be found on LATTE
Why We Travel
Week One
January 13
Paul Theroux, Why We Travel. April 1, 2011. New York Times.
Pico Iyer, Why We Travel. March 18, 2000. Salon.
Tourism and the Tourist Experience
Week Two
January 20
Why Tourism Matters, by Sharon Bohn Gmelch, in Tourists & Tourism: A Reader. 2002. Waveland Press.
Secular Ritual: A General Theory of Tourism by Nelson H. H. Graburn in Tourists & Tourism: A Reader, Edited by Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Waveland Press.
Narrating the Tourist Experience by Orvar Lofgre in Tourists & Tourism: A Reader, Edited by Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Waveland Press.
Suggested: John Carroll. 1980. “The Tourist,” Sceptical Sociology. London:Routledge
Friday memo prompt: Look around your (dorm) room. Do you have a particularly important souvenir on display? What is it? How is it a “vessel for travel in time and space”? How does this object have “no other function than to store memories”? Explain the item, and describe why it is meaningful for you. How is it an object that “produces narratives”?
The Leisure Tourist
Week Three
January 27
The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, by Dean MacCannell, 1999. University of California Press.
Tuesday: Chapters 1 & 2
Friday: Chapters 4 & 5
The Tourist Gaze
Week Four
February 3
Urry, John. (1990) 2002. The Tourist Gaze, London: Sage.
Tuesday: Chapter 1 & 5
Friday: Chapter 6 7
Friday: Assignment/Trip: Brandeis Tour
A Themed America
Week Five
February 10
Tuesday:
Mark Gottdiener. 2001. The Theming of America. Westview Press. Chapters 1, 4 & 6
Friday:
In a Sense Abroad: Theme Parks and Simulated Tourism by Lawrence Mintzin Tourists &
Tourism: A Reader, Edited by Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Waveland Press.
Whose New Orleans? Music’s Place in the Packaging of New Orleans for Tourism, by Connie
Zeanah Atkinson in Tourists & Tourism: A Reader, Edited by Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Waveland Press.
Mark Gottdiener. 2001. The Theming of America. Westview Press. Chapter 5
Suggested: Davis, Susan G. Spectacular Nature: Corporate Culture and the Sea World Experience. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1997
Assignment Due: Let’s Go: Boston!
February 17-21 Break – Travelogue!
Tourists and Travelers
Week Six
February 24
Tuesday:
Selections from The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road, Paul Theroux. 2012.
Mariner Books.
Daniel Boorstin, “From Traveler to Tourist: The Lost Art of Travel.”
Friday: Travel Writings (read 5)
The Craziest OKCupid Date Ever, by Clara Bensen. November 11, 2013. Salon.
The Paid Piper, by Grant Stoddard. November 12, 2012. TMagazine
Ode to the Annual Repeat Summer Vacation, by Peter Jon Lindberg. August 2012, Travel & Leisure
The Wicked Coast, by Paul Theroux. April 26 2011. The Atlantic.
Belfast: City of Walls, by Robin Kirk. Autumn 2011. The American Scholar
One First Timer’s Adventures in Culebra and Puerto Rico by Kara Cutruzzula
Assignment/Trip: Brandeis Tour
Additional Sources/information
Ethics of Tourism
Week Seven
March 3
Tuesday: The Ethics of Sightseeing by Dean MacCannell. 2011.University of California Press. Part Two.
Friday: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. 2000. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Suggested: The Global Beach, Orvar Lofgren. in Tourists & Tourism: A Reader, Edited by Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Waveland Press.
Assignment Due: Tourism in Popular Culture
Defining a Nation: Landscape & Leisure
Week Eight
March 10
Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century. John F. Sears 1999 University of Massachusetts Press.
Tuesday: Introduction, Chapters 1, 3, 5 (either 3 or 5)
Friday: Chapters 6, 7 & Conclusion (either 6 or 7)
Suggested: Brown, Dona. Inventing New England: Regional Tourism in the Nineteenth Century. Washington D.C. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.
Defining a Nation: Leisure and Consumption
Week Nine
March 17
See American First: Tourism and National Identity 1880-1940, by Marguerite Shaffer 2001 Smithsonian Books
Tuesday: Introduction, Chapter 4
Friday: Chapter 5 & 7
Contested/Competing Narratives
Week Ten
March 24
Introduction andPart Two: Competing Stories in Culture on Tour by Edward Bruner. 2005. University of Chicago Press.
Assignment: Brandeis Tour
Memorials and Memory
Week Eleven
March 31
Tuesday:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Commemorating a Difficult Past by Robin Wagner-Pacifici
and Barry Schwartz. American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 97, No. 2 (Sep., 1991), pp. 376-420
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Article Stable URL:
Friday:
Tourism and “Sacred Ground”: The Space of Ground Zero. In Tourists of History: Memory,
Kitsch and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero by Marita Sturken. Duke University Press. 2007.
Sturken, M. (2004), The aesthetics of absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero. American Ethnologist, 31:311–325. doi:10.1525/ae.2004.31.3.311
Assignment Due: Brandeis Tour Essay
Americans Abroad
Week Twelve
April 7
Shaul Kelner. 2012. Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage, and Israeli Birthright Tourism. New York University Press. Chapters 1,4,5,7
The Reckoning, by Kenan Trebincevic. December 2, 2011. New York Times
Let's Go Europe: What Student Tourists Do and Learn from Travel (George Gmelch) Sharon Bohn Gmelch. 2002. Tourists & Tourism: A Reader. Waveland Press.
April 15-22 Break
April 29th: Catch Up/Presentations/POP CULTURE
Scrapbook Presentations
Week Thirteen
April 29
1
[1] In creating many sections in this syllabus regarding Brandeis’ policies, I have turned to previous syllabi in American Studies and Sociology.