Ethical Tourism

When people think about tourism, most of them probably think about getting away from the stresses and obligations of their everyday lives. They imagine traveling to new places, meeting unfamiliar people, tasting exotic foods, discovering ancient ruins, or simply relaxing on a beach and forgetting about it all. As scholars, we take a much more critical view. 

In this class, we ask questions about why people travel, how they travel, what impact tourism has on people and places, and what tourism has to teach us about issues like globalization and social change. We seek to understand the economic, social, cultural, political, aspects of tourism. And, we seek to minimize the uneven costs and benefits of tourism, to build more just, ethical, and equitable models for tourism by decolonizing place, prioritizing people, nature, and social relations.