Course Synopsis:

In Fall 2018, ‘Topics in Global History’ explores the history of modern tourism, from the European Grand Tour to the rise of the ‘package holiday’ in the nineteenth century, to the growth of Las Vegas in the twentieth century.  Among the themes we explore are: gender and misbehaviour amongst eighteenth-century elite European travellers; colonial hill stations; adultery and espionage in the grand hotel; the rise of the automobile and the motel; class conflict at seaside resorts; and the hotel in wartime – as a site of refuge, a ‘soft target’, and a press headquarters.

By the end of this class, you will have:

1.    surveyed current scholarship which examines the evolution of global tourism from period of the Grand Tour;
2.    critically applied a range of perspectives on travel and tourism, drawn from several disciplinary traditions, including political science, historical geography, and sociology;
3.    surveyed an expansive range of primary materials that may be incorporated within original research into the history of tourism and travel, appreciating the widening textual field used in tourism and travel history, from architecture to maps and ‘ephemera’; and
4.    refined and practised skills of oral and written communication in the development of a major research paper incorporating a critical literature review.

Methods of Evaluation and Weights:

Bibliographic Review    20%
Seminar Participation    25%
Research Presentation    15%
Final Essay            40%

Texts and/or Resources Required:

TBA

Please note:  This is a preliminary web course description only.  The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description.  The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.