Travel is a communicative experience. When we leave our homes 鈥� whether we are dining in a new neighborhood or traveling across the globe 鈥� the way we communicate with local residents and the way we share our experiences through social media, podcasts and other storytelling methods, matters.
In Spring 鈥�22, the new course 鈥淭ravel and Transmedia Storytelling,鈥� offered within the School of Communication Studies, will guide students in developing ethical, technological and intercultural competencies as travelers and travel storytellers.
Assistant Professors T茅wodros Workneh, Ph.D., and Ikram Toumi, Ph.D., will teach the course, Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. The course is open to all Kent State students, and no prerequisites are required.
In addition to discussions about ethical traveling and mindful intercultural encounters, students will engage in hands-on work, documenting, curating and disseminating travel experiences through mobile technology.
鈥淭hey will engage in some sort of traveling activity and record it,鈥� Toumi said. 鈥淭hey can do that in their own community (or beyond). They鈥檒l produce some sort of content ... whether it鈥檚 photography, writing of a blog, a podcast.鈥�
Students will also examine and critique travel books, television and online content that others have produced. Toumi mentioned Rick Steves鈥� Europe and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown as potential options. She also hopes to arrange guest lectures with travel vloggers and with students and alumni who have previously studied abroad.
Even though they will be examining travel-related media centering on other parts of the world, Workneh emphasized that he wants students to think about travel as something that doesn鈥檛 need to be 鈥渆xotic.鈥�
鈥淲e travel all the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 a new restaurant that opened 15 minutes from us, (if) we鈥檙e traveling to Erie, Pennsylvania, to have family fun. ... Travel is not about how far you are going, but how keen you are to observe new ways of telling stories, new ways of interacting with people.鈥�
And when we see ourselves as 鈥渢ravelers,鈥� when we are exploring new communities near and far, we may notice small details that locals take for granted. That鈥檚 the type of mindset he wants his students to embrace.
鈥�(As a local, you may be) oblivious to the things around you,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s an outsider, everything is news and news. You get to tell a story that may be mundane for the local population but an inspiration for others.鈥� But beyond telling a story of travel encounters, the course equips students to critically engage with the essence of the stories they produce. 鈥淓thical travel storytelling, more than anything else, is about communities and uplifting their voices,鈥� Workneh added
