SMC Traveler

DEADLINES ARE CRITICAL FOR JOURNALISTS. ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE BY CLASS TIME AND WILL BE MARKED DOWN FOR EACH DAY LATE.

Syllabus for Around the World in 28 days

Week One:

Mon. Jan 5: Introduction to travel writing and WordPress. Set up individual WordPress websites. Discussion of Winter Whale Watching by Don George. Backpack journalism workshop. Assignment due Friday: Write a 600 wd. narrative (first person) travel article and POST with headline and photos on your website by class time.

Tue. Jan 6: No formal class. Read pages 1-52 in Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing and prepare for QUIZ 1 on Friday.

Thur. Jan 8: HALF MOON BAY TRIP. Compass Transportation pickup at St. Mary’s guard shack at 9:15 am. Leave promptly at 9:20. Arrive at 10:15 at Half Moon Bay Visitors Bureau for welcome talk and press packets then walk around the historic downtown. After walk, drive to Half Moon Bay State Beach for exploration time. Lunch at Cameron’s. Return to St. Mary’s by 3 pm. Assignment due Monday:   Create and POST a 1-2 minute video or a 10 photo slideshow (with short captions) of our Half Moon Bay trip. See grading page for criteria.

Fri. Jan 9: Quiz on pages 1-52 in textbook. Class writing workshop/critique of your favorite trip article with Don George. Assignment #2 due Monday: Write an approx. 600 wd. blog on your GUEST page (with original photo) on what you learned from Don George’s visit. 

Week Two:

Mon. Jan 12: SOMONA TRIP. SMC Transportation pickup at St. Mary’s guard shack at 9:15 am. Leave promptly at 9:20. Arrive at 10:15 at Sonoma Visitors Bureau (453 1st st. east) for welcome talk and press packets then walk to the Sonoma Mission for a 10:30 self-guided tour. After the Mission visit, you have time to explore Sonoma Square on your own, but MUST be on the bus at noon. At NOON the bus leaves for a tour and lunch at Cline Cellars (the site of the original Sonoma Mission). Return to St. Mary’s by 3 pm. Assignment due Tue: Read pages 53-112 in textbook and prepare for quiz. Assignment due Thur: POST a 600 word first person narrative with headline and photo(s) of our trip to Sonoma. See grading page for criteria.

Tue. Jan 13: QUIZ 2 on pages 53-112 in textbook. Review what class has learned so far. Reading Assignment for Thursday: South Seas Salvation story. 

Thur. Jan 15: Sonoma articles due by class time. Topic: Finding and focusing your story/crafting a structure. Building blocks: building descriptions through telling details; building stories through telling anecdotes/examples. (Part One.) Discuss South Seas Salvation story. Assignment for Friday: Read pages 113-165 in Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing and prepare for quiz. Also, Read Tim Cahill’s This Teeming Arc. http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/This-Teeming-Ark.html

Fri. Jan. 16: QUIZ 3 on pages 113-165 in textbook. Topic: Finding and focusing your story/crafting a structure. Building blocks: building descriptions through telling details; building stories through telling anecdotes/examples. (Part Two.) Discuss This Teeming Arc. Assignment for Tue: Read and be ready to discuss Pico Iyer essay, Why We Travel. http://www.salon.com/2000/03/18/why/

Week Three:
Mon.  Jan 19: MLK HOLIDAY no class.

Tue. Jan 20: Working through writer’s block. Discuss Why We Travel. Guest speaker: Travel writer and editor Lavinia Spalding. Assignment for Thursday: Write a 600 word blog on your GUEST PAGE detailing what you learned from Lavinia Spalding…with original photo.

Thur. Jan 22: DUCK BOAT TRIP. Saint Mary’s coach picks us up at front entrance by the guard gate at 9:15 for 9:20 departure.  Itinerary: 90 minute Duck Boat tour leaving from Fisherman’s Wharf at 11:00 am.  Return to SMC by 1 pm. Assignment for Monday: Write and POST on your website an article (with headline, photos and /or video, written in the second person (you), detailing the Duck Boat trip. 

Fri. Jan 23: GUEST SPEAKER: NPR broadcaster and author Tom Wilmer. Audio postcards and radio travel vignettes. Assignment for Monday: Write a 600 wd. blog on your GUEST PAGE on what you learned from Tom Wilmer, with original photo. Reading assignment for Monday: Read Into the Heart of the Himalaya. 

Week Four: 

Monday Jan 26: LLAMA TREK. Bring your camera, pen, notebook, smartphone, layers of clothing and comfortable shoes for hiking. Saint Mary’s coach picks us up at front entrance by the kiosk. We leave promptly at 9:20. It is your responsibility to make it on time or you will miss the bus. Itinerary: We will be dropped off in Redwood Park, where we will begin a two-hour llama trek. Return to SMC by 1 pm. Assignment for Tuesday: Be ready to discuss our llama trekking trip and Into the Heart of the Himalaya. Assignment for Friday: Final project – record and edit a 1-2 minute audio postcard of our Llama Trek. Upload to Soundcloud and post the URL on your home page by class time Friday (see grading page).

Tue. Jan 27: Discussion of llama trip and Into the Heart of the Himalaya. Pitching and working with editors. Blogging and self-publishing. Assignment for Thursday: Read pages 167-239 in textbook. Prepare for quiz. 

Thur. Jan 29: QUIZ 4 on pages 167-239 in textbook. Social media. Networking. Press trips, integrity, passion, quality. Assignment for Friday: Radio vignettes due.

Fri. Jan 30: Last day of class. Review/answer all class questions. Air podcasts and showcase individual websites.  World cuisine luncheon 11 a.m.