A WORLD TO DISCOVER: TRAVEL MEMOIRS AND MEMORABILIA AT TRINITY

Why should I take this Trinity Elective?

Travel is part of everyone’s experience in the new millennium as never before. Why do people travel, though? What is the difference between travel and tourism, or between exploration and migration? How many different experiences go under the word ’travel’ (curiosity and adventure, relocation and dislocation, colonisation and war)? How are these experiences recorded, fictionalised, or altogether reimagined? What objects do people take with them in their travels, or back with them from their travels, and why? If you are interested in any of these questions, join us in our journey through personal experiences and travel records in the Library of Trinity College.

What will I learn?

You will reflect on the ways in which travel is a cultural encounter, and on the diversity of experiences depending on the reasons, purposes, and attitudes of the people engaged in it.
You will learn to analyse the written and material records of travel, their significance to the life and history of individuals and communities.
You will learn to compare your personal experiences with those of your contemporaries and of those who have left a tangible record of their travels.
You will learn to choose your own case studies and to reflect responsibly on any cultural and ethical issue involved.

What will I do?

You will attend a series of lectures to understand how diverse experiences of travel have been recorded and conceptualised over time.
Interactive, practical and online discussion will help you to analyse your own experience and to compare it with that of others.
You will have an opportunity to examine memoirs and memorabilia of past travel experiences in the collections of Trinity College Library.
You will engage in team work to make sense of a variety of records with due respect for the culture of their production and reception.

How will this be delivered?

Face-to-face lectures (introductory and interactive) and practical sessions – approx. 18 hours
Directed engagement with the material and online discussion – approx. 30 hours
Individual reflective writing on material and personal experience – approx. 25 hours
Team project work (poster/exhibition) – approx. 30 hours

How will this be assessed?

Participation in class and online discussion during term (10%)
Individual short critical essay on personal travel record/object (mid term, 40%)
Team work production of digital poster/exhibition on a fully researched Trinity record, inclusive of cultural contextualisation, comparative material, and adequate use of critical literature (end of term, 50%)