Undergraduate - UnitATS2443 - On the road: Travel and representation

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Literary Studies
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Professor Robin Gerster

Notes

Previously coded COM2140

Synopsis

Cultural practices of travel and the ways these are represented in travel writing and related modes of communication form one of the most compelling fields of contemporary critical inquiry. This unit is designed to place this contemporary engagement within an historical, theoretical and practical perspective. It examines travel practices, attitudes and ideologies in a range of texts, including the popular travel book and the tourist guidebook, fiction, film and journalism. Its scope ranges from ancient pilgrimages through imaginary voyages, utopian fantasies, New World traveller's tales and the imperial quest, to the diverse branches of tourism today, including sex tourism and cyber travel.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit students will have:

a critical sense of the development of the broad field of travel and representation, with knowledge of the diversity of modes and discourses it encompasses
knowledge of the relationship between travel and ideology, especially in specific historical, political and gendered contexts
an informed understanding of contemporary critical and theoretical approaches to travel
critical perspectives on the production and consumption of travel writing and film
a clear historical sense of the changing practices of travel and tourism.

Students enrolled at a third-year level will be expected to demonstrate a greater mastery of all of the above than those enrolled at a second-year level.

Assessment

Research Essay (2250 words): 50%
2 Hour exam(1800 words): 40%
Seminar participation: 10%

Workload requirements

One 2-hour seminar per week

Chief examiner(s)

Robin Gerster

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Communications

Prerequisites

First-year sequence in Communications or other first year sequence as approved by the co-ordinator

Prohibitions

ATS2507/ATS3507