Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course focuses on the intricate layers of spaces and cultures, monuments and people, encountered during traveling or studying abroad. Being aware of how and why we travel will allow us to encounter more sustainable ways of exploring the world beyond bucket lists, mass tourism, or even dark tourism. We will discuss how to meet people and places with curiosity and respect, open to the stories of others and with an awareness of our own biases and the social and environmental footprints we leave behind. How do we travel in ways allowing us to better understand the places and the cultures we visit?

Learning Objectives

• Examine the interrelation between places, cultures and tourism
• Explore and discuss various fictions that dwell into the concept and question of tourism and traveling
• Understand travel cultures from a past and present perspective
• Apply methodologies and theories of travel ethics to your own travel experience

Faculty

Anne-Sophie Bogetoft Mortensen. Ph.D. in comparative literature and cultural theory. Employed as external lecturer at DIS since 2024. Currently also employed as external lecturer at Copenhagen University at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies. 

Readings

Adrian Franklin, The Tourist Syndrome. An Interview with Zygmunt Bauman, Tourist Studies 3 2003.

Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel, Pantheon Books, New York 2002.

Anthony Cardigan, Postcolonial Tourism, Routledge, 2016. 

Deniz Karagöz and Muzaffer Uysal, Tourists' need for Uniqueness as a Representation of Differentiated Identity, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 6, Issue 1, 2020.

Edward Said, Orientalism, Penguin Books, 2003, Introduction.

Emma Thomas, The Meaning of Travel, Oxford University Press, 2022. 

Harold Goodwin, Responsible Travel and Ethical Tourism: Trends and Issues, Journal of Responsible Tourism Management, Vol. 3, Issue 1, 2023.

Héléne Christini, Can Mimetic Theory Nurture Tourists To Renounce Idolizing Neoliberal Massproduced Desires?, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Vol. 26, Issue 2, 2022.

Judith Schalansky, Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands, Penguin Books, London 2012. 

Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place, Picador, USA, (org. 1988) ed. 2025. 

Krista A. Thompson, An Eye for the Tropic, Duke University Press, USA 2006, Introduction.

Lill-Ann Körber “Danish Ex-Colony Travel: Paradise Discourse, Commemoration, and (Not Quite) Dark Tourism” pp. 487 – 511.

Martin Heidegger, Sojourns, State University of New York Press, Albany 2005

Sophie Calle, Detachment, Actes Sud, 2013.

Zygmunt Bauman, From Pilgrim to Tourist – or a Short History of Identity, in: Stuart Hall & Paul du Gay (ed.), Questions of Cultural Identity, 1996.

Field Studies

This class will have a minimum of 3 field studies, which will allow us to engage with Copenhagen as a tourist attraction and beyond. We will critically analyze major sites and get a chance to engage creatively through photography and writing. 

Approach to Teaching

Each class will consist of shorter lectures, discussions and analysis of class materials. It is my ambition to create a curious and inquisitive class environment where we all participate in debates, listen carefully to each other and create and expand knowledge collectively.

We will limit the use of computers and phones to a minimum.

Aside from the readings we will also be watching movies in preparation as well as in class and look at various artworks. 

Expectations of the Students

This course is discussion-based and requires your active participation and engagement. You are expected to come well-prepared and ready to voluntarily contribute orally to each lesson by bringing the concepts discussed in class into play and sharing reflections on readings, how they relate to the real world, and how themes relate to topics you are exposed to through other courses or media sources.

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Engaged Participation	25%
Leading Class Discussion	20%
Reflection Travelogue	20%
Paper: Study of Tourist Site	35%