Winter 2023 Departmental Seminar
War rages in Europe. Technological advances are transforming work, travel, and leisure. And the world is more globalized than ever before. The year isn’t 2023, it’s 1939 - and the Swiss author Annemarie Schwarzenbach is searching for meaning amidst the chaos. In the span of just one year, she drove from Switzerland to Afghanistan, sailed back to Europe by way of India, and traveled on to New York City.
For this departmental seminar, we’ll read and discuss two of Schwarzenbach’s travel narratives from this time period that reflect on globalization, the act of travel, the position of the individual in the machinery of modernity, and our relationship with those beyond our shores. Blurring the boundary between literature, memoir, and travel report, these texts offer a rich exploration of the border crossings, both physical and metaphorical, that have come to define contemporary global citizenry.
Departmental Winter Seminar :: March 10, 2023 at 1:30pm :: Denny 359
Here are the general guidelines for seminar discussions.