Many of our great historical texts involve travel in some way. From Herodotus to ibn-Battuta, al-Biruni to Richard Burton, the traveler’s gaze has opened new worlds, introduced new peoples, and structured the way we view large parts of the globe. Travel literature remains an important method for accessing the past and present of other cultures. In this seminar, we will explore the role of travel and travel writing in history. We will read classic traveler’s accounts, modern travel narratives, and contemporary tourist guides to examine how travel and tourism both create and become implicated in the historical and cultural representations of societies around the world. As a seminar, this course will also provide students the opportunity to produce a major research paper of their own design and implementation. The paper will be a minimum of 25 pages, involve in-depth primary and secondary source analysis, and critical historiography.