COURSE OFFERINGS

Professor Alison Smith
FSEM 101-10 Travel for Transformation
Professor Katya Skow
FSWI 101-10 Life’s a Trip: Traveling in Text and Film

Have you ever dreamed of undertaking an extraordinary adventure? Are you eager to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, complete the Appalachian Trail, walk the Camino de Santiago, or climb Mount Kilimanjaro? If so, this course is for you. An experienced world traveler, hiker, and pilgrim, Dr. Smith will guide you in exploring the transformative potential of outdoor adventure and travel.

Course readings will include background theoretical material written by scholars in the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, and religious studies. We will also view pertinent films such as The Way and read essays and works of nonfiction such as Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. Students in the course will have the opportunity to go on a contemplative walk and will also design their own transformative travel experience.

Dr. Skow’s writing-intensive component is the pathway to becoming better and more efficient writers. Along the way we will encounter (read, analyze, and write about) texts that narrate, or describe a journey. Our texts describe both fictional voyages, such as Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the
Earth, and accounts of real trips, such as Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. As we progress, we will use texts as frameworks for discussions (both orally and in writing) in hopes that they will advance our ability to think and write critically about narrative texts.

You should sign up for FSEM and FSWI 101-10 if you…
 Are curious about other places, peoples, and cultures
 Enjoy a good discussion
 Seek to become better and more efficient writers
 Like to watch movies

NOTE: Students will walk a 100K segment of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Students will be in a different town each night, walking 15-25 kilometers per day to reach that evening's destination.

This trip is an optional component of a Freshman Seminar. Students may elect to complete an alternative experience in the Charleston area.