HUM 243 Returning Pacific: Huahine/Tahiti
Our rigorous course, either for Humanities, French, or Environmental Studies credit, offers students established Tahitian structures in which to live sustainably, practice ecologically sound methods, and to develop a framework for critical assessment based upon experiences. We will question the logic of consumer culture and of the 'post-card' image of the regions, as well as what it means to have visited a foreign place. We thereby engage with many assumptions in "modernity," "progress," and "development". Course themes include sustainability (in food and dwelling for instance); confronting socio-economic realities beyond 'the postcard' (poverty, obesity, for instance); Tahitian language and culture; French colonial influences informing the assumptions of "civilization"; and the cultivation of sustainable relationships with local persons. Prerequisite:
FRE 210 or 221 or placement in
FRE 261 for FRE 269;
FRE 261 or equivalent for FRE 414; no prerequisite for HUM 243;
ENS 210 or 215 for ENS 259.