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Rough schedule (PDF)
This program is pending the UW Study Abroad Office's official review process which will take place in November.
CLICK HERE FOR
ADVANCE APPLICATION
Deadline: 02 Dec, 2011
teaching: undergraduate
2012 Exploration Seminar
Urban Communication: Language, Image, Space
Where: Berlin (Germany), Interlaken (Switzerland), Paris (France)
When: August 19 to September 09, 2012 (22 days)
Credits: IAS and Anthropology (with easy conversion to Communication or Linguistics credits)
With: Professor Crispin Thurlow (thurlow@uw.edu)
“Attractive and terrifying, modern cities and megacities structure our lives and communication more than ever. More than 50% of the world’s population live in big cities. If urban conglomerations are places where people from other places gather, they form the communicative conditions in many ways: Migration leads to multilingualism, social diversity leads to complex [fields of meaning].” (Language in the City conference, Berlin, 2012)
This three-week, interdisciplinary study abroad program will offer just nine students a unique opportunity to study (and experience first-hand) three of Europe's most famous sites:
- BERLIN, the capital of Germany and “a world city of culture, politics, media, and science”;
- INTERLAKEN, the birthplace of modern tourism and still to this day a global travel destination;
- PARIS, the capital of France and an iconic “global city”.
For three weeks, these three places will become your home. They will also become the objects of your study. The seminar will take you on carefully designed scholarly and cultural journey whose main focus is on the way human communication (language/s, visual images, social interactions) is organized in contemporary urban settings. The course will also consider the way different modes of communication are used to represent and construct these urban spaces. This is what some scholars refer to as the study of semiotic landscapes:
“Landscape, as a way of seeing, is a broad concept pertaining to how we view and interpret space in ways that are contingent on geographical, social, economic, legal, cultural and emotional circumstances, as well as our practical uses of the physical environment as nature and territory, aesthetic judgements, memory and myth, for example drawing on religious beliefs and references, historical discourses, politics of gender relations, class, ethnicity, and the imperial projects of colonisation …” (Jaworski & Thurlow, 2010)
Along these lines, and working with theories and concepts from across the social sciences and humanities, you will come to see how spaces (urban or otherwise) are not just constituted by their geographical location, physical setting or built environment; spaces are produced and become meaningful in the way people talk about them, the way people depict them in photos or art, and the ways people interact with each other in the spaces. This is how spaces also become places.
Organized around a series of academic readings, class discussions, and ethnographic fieldwork exercises, you will get to know each of the three sites very well. We start in Berlin, a modern, multicultural city with an intriguing history of division and conflict. One highlight of your time in Berlin will be a chance to participate in a major international conference at the Freie Universität Berlin on the topic of Language and the City. In the second week, we step away from the cityscape into a very different landscape: Interlaken at the foot of the Swiss Alps. (Although we will be spending time in Bern, the "World Heritage" capital of Switzerland.) From the ideal vantage point of mountain tops – some of the highest in Europe – you be asked to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that cities present. In the last week, we move onto Paris, arguably one of the world's truly "global" cities. Here, we will pay special attention to the landscape of a supposedly 'postcolonial' metropolis.
COMMENTS FROM PAST STUDENTS
This will be the fifth year I am taking UW students to Europe; here's what some of my past students have said about my programs:
Emily Eggers, Communication major: I’m so accustomed to being in the classroom, listening to lectures or participating in sections, and so I’ve never had such a great chance to be fully immersed in the subject.
Deanna Sonni, International Studies major: I loved feeling like I was going backstage and seeing something no other tourist would be seeing.
Courtney Gosnell, Business major: My experience in Switzerland was absolutely amazing — the location was beautiful and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in the group so well.Andy Dean, Communication major: I had no idea how much I would change and grow as a person. This trip, the class and the whole experience will stay with me the rest of my life. I know they’ve changed me.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Professor 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 spent eight years in the UW's Department of Communication. In Spring 2011 he transferred to the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program at UW Bothell. He is an adjunct professor in Linguistics, Anthropology and Communication. In 2007, Professor Thurlow received the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award. This will be the fifth time he has run a study abroad program in Europe.
ELIGIBILITY
This study abroad seminar is open to all students at the UW (Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma). It is ideally suited for students in IAS (especially MCS and GST), Anthropology, Communication and Linguistics (see information about credits below). Applications (see link right) will be reviewed and eligible candidates invited for a short face-to-face interview. Each year, I 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.
ACADEMIC CREDITS
In taking this study abroad opportunity you will be able to earn 5 credits in one of the following:
- BIS 480 International Study Abroad
- ANTH 469 Special Studies in Anthropology
Arrangements have also been made for these credits to be automatically approved as COM 495 Special Topics in Communication and LING 480 Topics in Linguistics. If you are a student in another department, you should check with your advisors to determine how the credits could be counted towards your degree requirements. It is sometimes possible to earn additional "independent study" credits.
PRE-PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
There are no course prerequisites for this seminar. However, once accepted you will be *required* to attend FOUR pre-program meetings: Tuesday 10 April (a group dinner on the Ave), Tuesday 08 May and Tuesday 05 June. These meetings will take place between 5:30 and 7:30pm. A final pre-departure meeting will be arranged for July or August - either face-to-face or online depending on the availability of everyone in the group.
These class meetings are key to the success of your studies and travels; they are designed to introduce you to each other and to the academic program. The pre-program sessions are graded and failure to attend them may mean losing your place in the program. The UW Study Abroad Office will likely require your attendance at a cultural awareness session.
STUDENT COSTS
The program fee is $3,970 and will cover:
- tuition fees for 5 credits (normally $1,800 for residents; $4,700 for non-residents)
- all hostel accommodation in Berlin, Interlaken and Paris
- train travel between Germany, Switzerland and France
- public transport in Berlin and Paris
- transport costs and fees for required field trips
- registration fee for Language in the City conference, Berlin
- a pre-program dinner in Seattle
- group dinner in Berlin & Paris, picnic in Interlaken & Paris
- required texts and a work journal
In addition to an administrative fee to the UW Study Abroad Office, your other costs will include: round-trip fare to Europe (e.g. into Berlin and out of Paris); mandated health insurance; personal spending money; any visa-related costs for non-US/non-EU passport holders; and your own meals.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Funding support is available for financial aid students and scholarship funds are also available to other students through the UW Study Abroad Office. Some of the best funding opportunities at the UW are listed on the Global Opportunities Scholarships website.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications will be accepted online starting in November and until 5:00pm on Friday 02 December, 2011. With only nine spaces available, competition for this program will be fierce and so you are advised to apply sooner rather than later.
Note: You will also need to complete the Study Abroad Office's online application to once it opens. You will be notified of this.
Your acceptance into my 2012 Europe Exploration Seminar will be based on your responses to the online application (along 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 must be prepared to attend a short interview on Friday 09 December, 2011.
This information was last updated: 15-dec-11