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Study Abroad
Interlaken, Switzerland
Making place: Tourism, culture and global communication
(with field trips to Munich, Paris and Florence)
June 20-July 11, 2010
Program directors: Professor Crispin Thurlow, Ms. Kristine Mroczek
Updated: October 8, 2009
This intensive study abroad opportunity will help you understand some of the human consequences of globalization by studying the important role communication plays in tourism as a global cultural industry. As the world’s single largest trade, tourism is a powerful factor in shaping everyday interpersonal, intercultural and inter-national communication. Nowhere is this more apparent than Switzerland — the birth place of modern tourism and a country which embodies the challenges and successes of multilingualism, multiculturalism and multinationalism. Since the 1850s, Switzerland and especially Interlaken (our base for the seminar) have organized and promoted themselves as the quintessential tourist destinations. It was actually between June 26 and July 15 in 1863 that Thomas Cook organized the first ever organized tour of Switzerland. And, in the face of global warming, European/EU politics, and international economics, this “production of place” is also being constantly revised.
The seminar will be an enjoyable learning-by-doing experience and you’ll be involved in a series of practical projects involving different theoretical issues and key research skills (e.g. visual ethnography, text analysis). In doing so, you’ll be examining the linguistic, visual, material and spatial strategies used to represent and promote Swizterland as a global tourist destination. In 2010, the program is organized with a particular focus on the famous “Grand Tour” – an educational rite of passage for elite Europeans in the C17th. In addition to Switzerland, three of the greatest destinations at the time were Munich, Paris and Florence each of which continues to this day to promote itself as a “global tourist destination”.
You’ll also study how visitors and local people interact in tourist sites. It’s in this way that the seminar will address the darker side of tourism as well, by considering how the making of place and the production of culture always overlook many areas of life. So, for example, one assignment will have you undertaking “counter tourism”, following non-touristic routes through internationally renowned Swiss cities like Geneva, Zurich and Basel, developing an alternative tour-guide script. Through a series of fieldtrips, hands-on projects, and class discussions you’ll be asked to evaluate critically the implications of tourism for human communication on both a local scale and a global one.
About the instructors
Crispin Thurlow was born and raised in England, before living for twelve years in South Africa, eight years in London and six years in Wales. He moved to the USA in 2003 and is currently a professor in the UW’s Department of Communication. In 2007, he received the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Kristine Mroczek, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Communication, brings both a professional and academic knowledge of the tourism industry. Her research is rooted in critical/cultural communication, discourse studies and visual communication. This will be the third time Crispin and Kris have run a study abroad program in Switzerland.
Eligibility
Anyone can apply to join this class: it is open to Communication majors and non-majors, as well as to students in any other department. Applications (see link right) will be reviewed and eligible candidates invited for a short face-to-face interview. Each year, Crispin and Kris try to put together a class of mature students from a range of different backgrounds and who will work well together as a group. You do not have to have had any travel experience to be eligible.
Credit
In taking this study abroad opportunity you will earn 5 credits in COM 322 Global Communication. (Alternatively, you may choose to take independent study credits). If you are not a Communication student, you should check with your advisors to determine how these credits can count towards your own departmental requirements. Out of state students pay in-state tuition when studying abroad.
Pre-progam requirements
There are no course prerequisites for this seminar. However, once accepted you will be required to attend three pre-program class meetings in the Spring quarter (April 15, May 13, June 10) as well as a social gathering (March 11). These class meetings will entail a very basic crash-course in Bärndütsch (the local dialect of Swiss German), a preliminary reading quiz and a initial fieldwork assignment. Failure to attend the three class sessions may mean losing your place in the program. The Department of Communication or IPE Office may also require a cultural awareness session.
Student costs
The program fee is $3,450 which covers:
- tuition fees
- all hostel accommodation
- a Swiss Rail pass
- train travel to Munich, Paris and Florence
- required excursion fees
- opening and closing night events
- several group meals during the program
- required text, journal and coursepack
In addition to an IPE fee of $250, your other costs will include: round-trip fare into Zurich or Geneva and out of Rome (or Zurich/Geneva); health insurance; personal spending money; any visa-related costs for non-US/non-EU passport holders; and general meals.
Scholarships
Funding support is available for financial aid students and scholarship funds are also available to other students through the International Programs & Exchanges (IPE) office. Some of the best funding opportunities at the UW are listed on the Global Opportunities Scholarships website.
Application
Applications are now being accepted online (see link above right) until Monday 30 November. Competition for the Communication Switzerland Program is always strong and you are advised to apply sooner rather than later. Your acceptance will be based on an online application (with two references) in which you’ll be asked to give some basic information about yourself as well as a short statement about why this particular program is suited to your academic and personal goals. You should be prepared to attend a short interview.
