Scribes in Scotland

Scribes in Scotland: Wandering, wondering, writing
Scotland Summer 2018 (3 credits, UG)

Check out this quick overview with pictures!

Designed for creative writers, English majors, and humanities students, this class will engage in the art of flanerie (immersing ourselves in our surroundings to hone our critical, observational, and writing skills) to create a Scottish travelogue including both creative and expository writing. Before we set off we will read and reflect on flanerie, Scotland’s influence on the world, and the work of other flaneures such as Sir Walter Scott and David Livingstone. In Scotland, we will write in stimulating locations from the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh to Glasgow Green with castles, cafes, and Highland adventures included.

The focus of the class will be the art and practice of flanerie or “a way of seeing the world and being in the world.” We will explore the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as the Scottish Highlands to study what happened in those places, who lived in those places, and what those places mean — and in the process we will gain a better understanding of our own places, our own identities, and our own meanings. This is flanerie — the simple art of wandering and wondering and writing about both. As a result of this wandering, wondering, and writing, we will create a travelogue including original creative and expository writing as well as a curated collection of social artifacts that reflects both our own history and the history of the places we wandered.

Course Highlights:

  • Travel experiences and coursework individually tailored for needs and interests of creative writers, English majors, and humanities students
  • Develop an understanding of flanerie as a way of seeing the world and being in the world through both observation and reflection through writing
  • Study Scottish history, places, and people in order to better understand our own history, home, and identity as well as gain an appreciation for a culture different than our own
  • Hone creative and expository writing skills as well as develop curation and digital publishing experience (post-return)

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