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My Experience of Teaching a Travel Writing Course
I’ve been pretty fortunate to have the opportunity to teach a course called Special Topics in Travel Writing at Stevenson University, where I am a full-time professor. It’s one of my favorite courses to teach, and for years in another course I teach called Feature Writing, we cover travel writing as part of the curriculum. To be able to teach travel writing as a semester-long, intensive 400-level course is something I treasure. The students in my class are required to each pick a location relatively local to our region. Some explore cities or towns in Maryland, some in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Washington, D.C. or any other destination that they…
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The Case for the American Road Trip
A few years ago, I read Andrew McCarthy’s piece entitled U.S. Road Trips: Into the Heart of America, and I couldn’t agree with him more about getting into your car and going. He begins the piece with this sentence: There’s nothing wrong that a hundred bucks and a full tank of gas can’t fix. I heartily agree, Mr. McCarthy. One of the most special things about taking road trips, in my humble opinion, is not just getting there and seeing what you want to see, but also the ability to get lost and see what you didn’t expect to see. That’s it in a nutshell. Sometimes the best surprises, or…
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Proud of My Travel Writers
* * * The semester is over, and now the students are taking final exams. I have completed teaching a Special Topics in Local Travel Writing course in our Business Communication department at Stevenson University, and I have one thing to say. I loved it. As any form of travel is wont to do, a true travel experience tends to have the ability to open our minds—and our hearts. My students were posed the task of traveling like a travel writer, spending two days in their selected place of choice, and then writing about it. I have to say, the topics were varied and interesting. Each student put his or…
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Above All Else, It Takes Optimism
Dear Readers, I enjoyed my break from blogging, but am now eager to come back. While I won’t be posting as often as I used to, I am at least going to commit to one post a week. I couldn’t wait to write this post, as I’m excited for the beginning of the semester next week. Best of luck to all returning and new college students, and to all those going to school to learn and grow. Have a great fall… Stephanie Yesterday, I attended Stevenson University’s fall faculty/staff meeting. I always get a lot out of those meetings because I inevitably learn something that I didn’t know before I…
