LFU:online

-          The goal of the course is to develop a “Travel Journalism Portfolio” made up of (a) 2 travel blogs based on weekend travel (b) one photo essay on a topic of your choice based on your weekend travels, (c) one travel book review and (d) one book proposal. We will do a lot this term—and quickly, so it’s important to stay on schedule. Having said that the focus is not on quantity, but quality.  

-          Students will acquire the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes necessary to be effective beginning travel writers.  

o    The Knowledge learned will focus on travel blogs (the genre, narrative dimensions, voice, and agency); telling stories through pictures (developing a theme, using locales and characters).  

o    The Skills learned will focus on writing compact, action narratives that tell a broader story while focusing on personal narrative and voice. Effective use of visual images (placement, composition, aesthetics, and strategy) and their use in a travel blog.  

o    The Attitude learned will focus on cultural awareness and sensitivity to history, identity, and journalistic responsibility.  

-          This is an introductory course for students interested in travel writing and working in the media segment of the travel industry. 

-          Students will be exposed to the different genres of travel writing --blogs, photography, long-form writing (feature-length and books), and the travel writing media industry; understand the relationship between tourism as an industry and genres/conventions of travel writing. There will be an emphasis on cultural awareness, the complexity of theme, material, and structure, and a desire to provide depth and insight.  

-          This is a VERY STRUCTURED course, with tight deadlines and schedules. I will review this in class but please read through everything below.  

The University of New Orleans International Summer School program has a mandatory class attendance policy. All students are required to attend class for all morning classes and any required afternoon and/or weekend fields trips and lectures. No unexcused absences are allowed. However, LFU students who have to miss a UNO class due to LFU examinations in the first two weeks of our program, can receive one excused absence for this. Any further unexcused absences will result in an academic penalty. Each faculty member determines the penalty for missed classes. Most professors deduct a letter grade for each additional missed class day. For details, please refer to your course syllabi, which will be distributed on the first day of class. The listed ECTS credits are a recommendation by the University of New Orleans Innsbruck Summer School, based on contact hours, anticipated out-of-classroom requirements such as field trips, and projected workload for readings, assignments, and exam preparation. Mail: Center-New-Orleans@uibk.ac.at