FALL 2022 Travel Course Offerings

FALL 2022 Three-Credit Travel Course Offerings

Course Topic and Destination Leader
AHT 234T Painting in France in the 19th Century Gee
This course sets out to chart and discuss the development of painting in France from the emergence of Romanticism in the early 19th Century to the critical recognition of post-impressionist practices at the turn of the 20th Century. It looks at the changing relations to reality that were developed by the impressionist group, leading to the emergence of a new visual understanding of the world in cubists practices that resolutely abandoned the aesthetics space inherited from the Renaissance. The course considers both the continuous evolution of a classical tradition sustained by state institutions and its progressive superseding by an avant-garde relying on the growth of the private commercial sector. Throughout this course, the relationship between the visual arts and other forms of cultural expression will be highlighted. In the travel component part of the course, students will have the opportunity to engage with works in a range of museums and galleries in Paris, France.
BIO 210T Alpine Ecosystems Hale
This course examines the ecology and the management of the European Alps. It introduces students to the natural history and functions of these important ecosystems. It examines how the climate, fauna, flora, and landscapes have interacted and evolved over time. Further, it provides students an overview of threats facing these systems today, such as climate change, human use, and non-native species. It introduces students to research methods used to study mountain environments and impacts of management activities. The travel portion will visit sites in the Central and Western Alps to study natural environments in situ and connect students with local researchers and organizations active in the field. Students will spend significant time outdoors in the field in a variety of weather. Access to some sites will require moderate amounts of hiking in mountainous terrain. Previous coursework in biology or environmental science encouraged.
BUS 145T Borderless Management (Belgium) Sinnaeve
This course focuses on exposing students to how multinational enterprises (MNEs) define and implement strategy in a global context. By illustrating with a critical perspective the opportunities and challenges arising from globalization and slowbalization, and the role of MNEs in this context, the course will focus on explaining how MNEs take strategic choices (motivations to go international, strategy perspectives, market selection and entry methods, common flaws in decision making) and how MNEs implement strategy (management styles, organization design, innovation management, the importance of national vs corporate culture and diversity & inclusion). The Academic Travel will focus on visits in Brussels.
BUS 243T Personal Finance (Germany) Suleiman
This course introduces students to the basic concepts and tools needed to make wise and informed personal financial decisions. The content of this course is presented from a practical point of view and with an emphasis on the consumer as the financial decision-maker. The primary objective of this course is to help students apply finance practices to their own life. For example, students will learn how to plan and manage personal finances, how to obtain credit to purchase a home or a car, and how to invest personal financial resources in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Students will also learn how to interpret financial and economic news that have an impact on personal finances. The travel component of this course will include visits to several cities in Germany such as Frankfurt and Berlin. During those visits, students will be introduced to financial institutions that are relevant for personal finance such as the ECB, the Frankfurt stock exchange, commercial banks, and wealth management and real estate firms.
CLCS 100T The Stories We Live By Roy
Stories are everywhere. We use them, consciously or unconsciously, to make sense of identities, experiences, and desires. And, at the same time, we are shaped by the stories that we absorb and interpret. This course explores how storytelling both reflects and shapes our lives. It introduces students to keywords and terms for reading and reflecting upon stories, both in the pages of books and in everyday life. The course considers a variety of narrative forms, including short stories, novels, fairy tales, self-help manuals, comics, films, podcasts, and political discourse. The course introduces students to fundamental questions about the nature of storytelling, while developing the vocabulary and critical skills for analyzing and discussing stories. The travel component of the course will center on literary institutions, one of the current key themes of the course. Students will travel to three sites in three different countries: Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. They will explore the materiality of the book as they visit publishers, libraries, and book stores, as well as book makers.
CLCS 256T Writing & Re-Writing Classics (Greece) Wiedmer
Legend has it that Goethe began working on a version of the Iphigeneia story, celebrated as the stuff of tragedies by Aeschylus and Euripides, as soon as he had crossed the Alps from Switzerland into Italy: he could not wait to actually set foot on Greece, the homeland of the legend. Since then poets of the neo-classical and romantic eras as well as our own times have been rewriting the plays, poems, epics and proto-novels of ancient Greece to suit contemporary taste and political exigencies. Students will read a series of text pairs, from the ancient Greek and (predominantly) 19th, 20th and 21th century Western traditions in which the same mythical material is worked and reworked, while visiting some of the sites associated with the great works of classical Greek literature. The aim of this Academic Travel to Greece is three-fold: to map some of the metaphorical and actual geographies of the works we read; to reflect on what might have given rise to the themes, stories and figures celebrated in classical works by authors such as Sappho, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Homer; and to examine how modern-day re-writings in film and literature pick up on tropes and ideas indebted to a vision of Greece as "the cradle of democracy" even while reflecting their own time. This course will also have a creative component in either photography, film or creative writing.
CLCS 263T Italian Myths of America: Sicily Ferrari
The stories told in the films and novels to be studied in this course were written by two generations of Italians typically associated in literary history with what has been called the mito americano, or American myth. Defining and contextualizing this myth will be among our first objectives. In what ways has the New World positively impacted Old World culture and, conversely, what are some of the negative perceptions—and apocalyptic anxieties—represented by Italian writers and filmmakers? Parallel to questions of national myths, the course also reflects on how and where Italian writers and filmmakers position themselves at the intersection of political ideology and creative engagement, personal identity construction and questions of social justice. The travel component of the class focuses on Sicilian cultural identity, both as it relates to the Italian peninsula and to the Sicilian diaspora.
COM 230T Comm, Fashion, and Formation of Taste Sugiyama
The sense of taste, whether it refers to the metaphorical sense of taste (aesthetic discrimination) or the literal sense of taste (gustatory taste), is a fundamental part of human experiences. This Academic Travel course examines various ways that communication processes shape our sense of taste in the contemporary society. It will explore topics such as the taste for food, clothing and accessories, music, and other cultural activities applying key theories and concepts of communication, fashion, and taste. Ultimately, the course seeks to develop an understanding of how interpersonal, intercultural, and mediated communication in our everyday life plays a critical role in the formation of individual taste as well as collective taste. In order to achieve this objective, field observations and site visits will be planned during the Academic Travel period.
HIS 275T History of Modern Ireland Hoey
Ireland has undergone profound social, economic and political changes over the last two centuries. Its history has been largely defined, for better or worse, by its relationship with its larger neighbor, Britain. This course critically examines the contours and effects of this often troubled relationship which can largely be defined as the struggle between union and dis-union, that is, either strengthening or severing the link with Britain. Going beyond these constitutional issues it also examines wider social and cultural changes; the famine and its legacy, the land revolution of the late nineteenth century, emigration, the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy and Ireland’s delayed sexual revolution.
MAT 115T Measuring the Alps Prisner
People live in three-dimensional space but are restricted to the earth surface which is usually locally flat, two-dimensional. But when entering the Alps, the third dimension of height becomes important when describing location or movement. This is also expressed by the fact that in the mountains a map is not too useful---rather a topographic map is needed. Starting with a description of the Alps or any mountains by topographic maps, or mathematically as functions with two independent variables, students will investigate how certain well-known features are reflected by the topography of the area . Examples are the location of mountain brooks, watersheds, movement of glaciers, avalanches, and rockfall. Students will also investigate the question of visibility in the mountains, whether and how it is possible to predict what can be seen from where. A further aspect is GPS technology. During the travel, the class will visit various places in the Swiss, Austrian, and Italian Alps, such as Davos, Innsbruck, Villnoess. Students will hike and measure, but will also discuss questions relevant to Alpine life, such as glaciers, avalanches or rockfall forecasts. If possible, the class will also visit places where such research is conducted. The course includes one mandatory weekend hike in September in addition to the ordinary travel in October. Hiking boots are required.
POL 101T Intro to International Relations: Vienna Bucher
This Academic Travel course provides the basic analytic tools necessary for the understanding of international relations. After a brief introduction to realist, liberal, English School and constructivist approaches to the study of international relations, the course covers various fundamental concepts, such as national power, foreign policy, conflict, political economy, international trade and international organizations. The travel program will focus on Vienna which provides us with the opportunity to not only learn about international organizations, but also the historical development of European politics and diplomacy
POL 176T International Environmental Politics Zanecchia
The resolution of global environmental problems has been problematic for nation-states. Hence, international cooperation is essential for exploring and applying solutions. This course will first examine the origins of environmental problems facing nations such as climate change, desertification, pollution, and international trade in endangered species. Further topics for investigation will include the impact of globalization and the feasibility of sustainable development in the industrial north and developing south, as well as the effectiveness of international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and CITES. The academic travel destination will be within Switzerland, including planned visits to Pro Natura nature reserves and the WWF in Zurich. The experiential component may also include site visits to examples of sustainable development within Switzerland such as Zermatt and Grindelwald, as well as an overnight hike to alpine habitats.
SJS 377T Sustainable Education in Madagascar Galli
This course concentrates on language teaching and educational materials development in collaboration with rural schools in Northern Madagascar. Franklin students in this course work with the Swiss NGO, Boky Mamiko ("Books my Love"), which has cooperated in recent years in Madagascar with local community school directors, teachers, students, and community leaders in the areas of education, employment creation, health and nutrition, and environmental protection. In the first half of the course, Franklin students will gain insights about Madagascar and its educational system using concepts from the study of poverty, employment and development strategies in low-income countries. Students will also learn fundamentals of language teaching pedagogy and materials development, including doing some practice teaching in local Ticino contexts. During the academic travel portion of the course, students learn from school directors, teachers, students, and community leaders about the local culture, environment, language, lifestyle and related challenges. Franklin students will document their experience with pictures and personal notes, which they will use later to develop educational materials. Students also carry out some pilot teaching and testing of the English language skills of the children at the schools. Following a model of reciprocal learning, Malagasy language sessions will be organized by the local students for the Franklin students. Upon return to campus, Franklin students will use what they have learned to develop ad hoc educational materials for teaching English, Italian or other subjects of their choice (such as local geography, history or environmental education). These materials ideally should include some creativity, such as for instance writing or illustrating a children’s storybook, designing flash cards or creating educational games. This Academic Travel course is best suited for students with some proficiency in French (the country’s second national language) and requires the flexibility to adapt to simple living conditions and to possible changes in itineraries. NOTE: This Academic Travel course carries a supplemental fee: CHF 1,000 (for students invoiced in CHF) or USD 1,085 (for students invoiced in USD)
SOC 100T Introduction to Sociology (Paris) Schwak
What is "society"? What does its structure look like and how does it work? How does it change? Why does it change? How do are individuals and society intertwined? This course provides students with the tools to answer these questions. Modern societies have experienced dramatic social changes with the emergence of individualism, new class structures, the development of urban life or changing relationships between individuals and their natural environments. Sociology provides an understanding of these changes by studying human interactions and forms of social organization. In this course, students will be introduced to major sociological thinkers, concepts and approaches. This Academic Travel course will take students to France, and Paris more specifically. This will allow students to trace the steps of some of the most influential sociologists ranging from (e.g.) August Comte to Emile Durkheim and Pierre Bourdieu. Paris furthermore presents itself as a sociologically very intriguing city to approach with a sociological gaze.
VCA 120T Documentary Photography on Location Fassl
This course will investigate the particularities of both documentary and street photography through readings and studio projects. It will shed light on the history of photography; how the visual world communicates, studying the interaction of photography with other visual media; and will pay specific attention to the semiotic potential and challenges of photography. Students will engage in a project that relates to the location of the travel component of the class, documenting a subject of their choice. The Academic Travel destination will be Munich with additional day excursions to Bavaria and Austria.

FALL 2022 One-Credit Travel Course Offerings

Course Topic and Destination Leader
TVL 353 UAE and Oman: Economic Transform Cordon
The small states in the Arab Peninsula, also known as Trucial States, were largely underdeveloped until recently. Before the 1930s their economies were based mostly on fishing, small-scale trading and pearl diving. Geopolitically, their importance lay mostly as a staging point for British interests in the region. The discovery of large oil and gas resources changed their fortunes dramatically. Foresighted and astute leaders turned dormant cities into economic powerhouses, while at the same time creating some of the world’s most comprehensive welfare systems, at least for their fortunate citizens. Building on the resource wealth, they have developed efficient service and trading industries. The UAE boasts two of the biggest airports and most profitable airlines in the world, in addition to many architectural and engineering showpieces. The Sultanate of Oman has managed to hold on to more traditional lifestyles, while modernizing its infrastructure and developing its seaports. This Academic Travel will focus on the rapid transformation of these countries, paying special attention to the role of business and the difficult balance between modernity and tradition. We will visit their capitals –Abu Dhabi and Muscat—as well as hyper-dynamic Dubai and more traditional inland towns. Readings and discussions will focus on the successful development of business-friendly economies. This travel will involve extensive political and economic analysis. Students will be expected to understand and respect local cultural traditions, and to participate in ALL group activities. Depending on conditions, the travel may also include Doha (Qatar), host of the 2022 Soccer World Cup. NOTE: This Academic Travel carries a supplemental fee: CHF 800 (for students invoiced in CHF) or USD 870 (for students invoiced in USD)