Travel Writing and Photography Practicum

TRAVEL WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRACTICUM

(varying credit, 1-8 weeks)

Students with an interest in developing skills needed for travel writing and travel photography can get first-hand experience in a workshop environment, collaborating with Cuban students and professors to develop insights into the culture that make their work more meaningful. Students work in teams to produce blogs, travel narratives, essays, cultural analysis, and photo essays of things they see and experience in Cuba. Intersecting journalism, expository writing, personal memoir, photography, and creative writing, the course encourages students to produce meaningful reflections about what it’s like to experience another culture, and find appropriate forms of expression for those experiences. With Cuban partners, they explore their ideas about what they see, what the images means to them, and how their experiences have changed the way they feel or think about Cuba. Field trips take students to places of historical, cultural, and environmental importance, providing them with a variety of issues and experiences to write about. As the final project for the practicum, students will produce a portfolio of work to be published online for use by future international visitors to the University of Cienfuegos. It can serve as an “informal guide to Cuba” for new visitors, showcasing the insights, knowledge and experience of those who participated in the practicum. The goal of the practicum is to give students the opportunity to learn and practice strategies and techniques for effective travel writing and travel photography, to enhance their communication skills, and to gain a deeper understanding of Cuban culture through collaboration with their Cuban cohort.

With this course module:

The number of credits granted and length of time in Cuba can be negotiated according to the needs of the group.

The modules can be combined in any way, depending on the needs and interests of the students.

Students are not required to have previous knowledge of Spanish to take these classes (with the exception of the translation practicum). When course content is delivered in Spanish, interpreters will be available to help facilitate communication.

Students can begin course work in Cienfuegos any time depending on preference of the American professor and availability of UCf faculty (modules not available in August).

For more information or to incorporate this module into your program, download and complete the preliminary information form and email it to CubaPrograms@CivitasGES.com.