Course: Travel and Tourism in (Early) Modern Times

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Course title Travel and Tourism in (Early) Modern Times
Course code KHI/VAP
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 5
Language of instruction English
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Ferencová Hana, Mgr. Ph.D.
  • Balaban Milan, Mgr. et Mgr. M.A., Ph.D.
Course content
This interdisciplinary course explores the historical development of travel and tourism from the early modern period to the 20th century. Through two interconnected parts, it examines how travel's motivations, practices, and infrastructure evolved over time. The first part (Hana Ferencová) focuses on the development of travelling phenomenon during the Early Modern period, concentrating on the Grand Tour, women travel, everyday life on the road and travel writing. The second part (Milan Balaban) centers on the 19th and 20th centuries, addressing the rise of modern tourism, the development of tourist infrastructure, spa culture, and mass tourism in the 20th century. Each class will combine lectures, readings, and discussion. Students are expected to participate actively and read assigned materials. The final project is a presentation reflecting on their travel experiences from a cultural and educational perspective. Course outline: 1. Introduction 2. Travel Writing, Borders, and Identities in Early Modern Europe 3. The Grand Tour: Education, Prestige, and Cultural Exchange 4. Women on the Move: Early Modern Female Travellers 5. Everyday Life on the Road 6. The Birth of Modern Tourism: Railways, Steamships, Guidebooks 7. Spa Towns, Seaside Resorts, and Mountain Tourism 8. Tourism, Colonialism, and the "Exotic" 9. Tourism in Interwar Europe 10. Mass Tourism and Global Leisure Culture in the 20th Century 11. Students' presentations 12. Students' presentations

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture, Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Group work
Learning outcomes
The course offers historical, social, and cultural perspectives on travel and tourism, encouraging students to analyze how tourism shapes societies and identities. The course highlights key changes in infrastructure, perceptions of space and "the Other", and the educational or leisure value of travel from the 16th to the 20th century. After completing the course, students will be able to: - Understand and compare travel practices across periods. - Analyze travel writing and infrastructure as historical sources. - Interpret the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of tourism. - Reflect on tourism's role in shaping identity and global connections.
By the end of the course, students will: - Gain the ability to analyze tourism as a historical and cultural phenomenon. - Be able to interpret travel narratives and infrastructure critically. - Understand how travel shapes identity and cultural exchange. - Develop skills in oral presentation, historical reasoning, and comparison.
Prerequisites
Ability to read and write in English; some knowledge of European history.

Assessment methods and criteria
Student performance, Final project

- Attendance and active participation (3 absences max) - Preparedness and reading discussions - Final presentation The final presentation will be based on a personal or historical travel experience. Students will reflect on the journey's educational, cultural, and transformative elements using themes and perspectives discussed in the course.
Recommended literature
  • Antoni Maczak. (1995). Travel in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge.
  • Brian Dolan. (2001). Ladies of the Grand Tour British Women in Pursuit of Enlightenment and Adventure in Eighteenth-century Europe. New York.
  • C. Larrinaga, D. Strangio. The development of the hotel and tourism industry in the Twentieth Century: Comparative perspectives from Western Europe, 1900-1970. 2020.
  • D. MacConnell. The tourist: A new theory of the leisure class. 1999.
  • E. G. E. Zuelow. A history of modern tourism. 2016.
  • E. G. E. Zuelow. Touring beyond the nation: A transnational approach to European tourism history. 2016.
  • Jeremy Black. (2003). The British abroad: the grand tour in the eighteenth century. Stroud, Gloucestershire.
  • P. A. Christou. The history and evolution of tourism. 2022.
  • Steven G. Ellis, Lud'a Klusáková. Imagining Frontiers, Contesting Identities. Pisa. 2007.
  • Thomas Betteridge. (2007). Borders and Travellers in Early Modern Europe. Farnham.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA22) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA23) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA25) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA24) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): History (2015) Category: History courses - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): History (2019) Category: History courses - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): History (2019) Category: History courses - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2023) Category: Philosophy, theology - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA22) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA25) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): History (2019) Category: History courses - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2023_N24) Category: Philosophy, theology - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA24) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Education Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA23) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -