ILSA3313

Taught abroad. Surfing is one of the world's most popular cultural phenomena. Students will explore the intersections of surfing, war, and tourism, addressing how a pastime commonly associated with mindless pleasure has in fact been implicated in some of the major global developments of the last two-hundred years. These include empire-building and the "civilizing mission" in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Hawaii's, modernization and economic development in the so-called Third World, the growth of international tourism following the Second World War, political mass movements and the anti-apartheid struggle, American foreign relations and Cold War cultural diplomacy, and the surf industry and corporate globalization. As a class taught in another country, the course will also cover the history of U.S. foreign policy in that region. And it has an experiential component: to develop an appreciation for the subject and for why millions of people have planned their lives around the sport, students will learn to surf. The course will thus combine academic instruction with outdoor education.

pre-req: instructor consent, ability to swim; Study Abroad Office consent required.

02495

Global Perspectives, Humanities

Every Summer