Study Guide

Objective

After completion of the course the student is able to
- use the perspectives of sociology and cultural studies for understanding the cultural, social, socio-ecological and socioeconomic meanings and impacts related to tourism, travelling and other mobilities and hospitalities both locally and globally
- enhance ethical tourism and visitation sustainability for tourism
- use speculative imagination, embodied knowledges, social and cultural theories and responsible tourism planning in enhancing creative tourism, traveling and hospitality
- collaborate during the course in cross-cultural, live and virtual settings.

Content

- Ethical mobilities
- Sporting bodies
- Hospitality work
- Exploitative tourism
- Multidimensional Tourist Experience
- Measurements of sustainability
- Responsible planning

Location and time

24.2.23
MAT303 CULTURAL AND SOCIAL STUDIES OF TOURISM
Spring 2023, 15.3.-26.4.

Professor Soile Veijola, University of Lapland
MAT303 Cultural and Social Studies of Tourism

Timetable for the regular course
15.3. 12-14 LECTURE I Tourist or traveller, Industry or Culture? LS10
17.3. 12-14 LECTURE II Hospitality as work and value LS10
20.9. 12-14 LECTURE III Classed, Sexed and Sexualised Tourist Bodies LS6
A written assignment to be submitted in Moodle by 23.3. at 14 p.m.; read and comment also other students’ texts by 27.3. at 10 a.m.
24.3. 9.00-12.30 SEMINAR VastuuMatka4: Responsible Tourism Planning; Guest Lecturers LS19
pls, register online or as attendant according to instructions:
https://www.ulapland.fi/events/VastuuMatka4--seminaari-Responsible-tourism-planning,-cohabiting-tourism-landscapes-/38077/1c929102-cb02-4914-8553-5fdcddc43c31
27.3. 12-14 LECTURE IV Planning and Unplanning Public Spaces LS10
A written group assignment to be submitted in Moodle by 30.3. at 14 p.m.
31.3. 12-15 (obs! 3 h) LECTURE V Feedback on Group work, Possibly Guest Lecturers, and Wrapping Up the course, HOX! this session takes place Only Online in Teams.
Written Exam in Exam room at the university of Lapland during 17-26.4.23

Obs! If you cannot attend lectures at the university, you can take the course as an entirely independent studying project ending with an exam based on course readings btw 17.-26.4.23. Students are encouraged to form reading circles on a voluntary basis.
More detailed instructions are sent during the week 10 (the latest). 

 
PRACTICALITIES

• All lectures but one (the last one) take place in lecture rooms at the university main campus
• Lectures start quarter past, and end quarter to (for ex. 12.15-13.45)
• Online participation in regular course is not possible – see the exception
• An exception: the last session takes place only online, and in Teams
• Lectures will not be recorded.
• PP-slides will not be distributed afterwards
• The course is an Old School One: Listening to a lecture and writing notes in class, discussing in class, and reading course readings alongside to get a more in-depth understanding of the topics discussed (the classic academic method of studying)
• Written assignments: (1) one solo paper (two-pager) after three first lectures, (2) one group work paper written (three pages) and presented online, after all five lectures, and, finally, (3) an exam on given readings (not on all readings of the course)
• Guest lecturers may join us in the final session
• Using ChatGPT and similar AI apps in writing is strictly forbidden throughout the course: students should be learning, not AI.
• Missed classes and papers mean failing the course: first checkpoint is after the first paper.
• OBS! If you know you will miss more than one session for some reason (overlapping timetables of teaching for instance), please assign right-away to the alternative way of taking the class as an independent reading task, or take the course next spring. See below.
• Please, not also, that the next possibility to take the course is in spring 2024. This year the course will not be available in summer period.

ALTERNATIVE WAY TO TAKE THE COURSE
• A classic academic written exam based on course readings at the University Exam room between 20.4.-26.4.23. Instructions are given on 15th March.
• You may build reading groups to make studying more fun but that is up to you. Teacher will give tips for it.

Please, send teacher an email [soile.veijola(at)ulapland.fi] in which you tell your choice: a) regular or b) independent alternative. Do this by Monday, 13th March.
OBS Add the course code “MAT303” to the heading of your email so they are easier to find it in the stream of emails.  

Materials

This list will be provided by start of the course.

Teaching methods

The course will take place in classroom as contact teaching at the university every time, except for the last session on 31st March which will take place entirely online in Teams.

If attendance in class is not possible, the alternative mode of taking the course is an exam based on literature. The exam will be at the end of the course, on 20th or 21st April. The date will be chosen before the course starts.

There is no hybrid teaching available.

Please, send teacher an email [soile.veijola(at)ulapland.fi] in which you tell your choice: a) regular or b) independent alternative. Do this by Monday, 13th March.
OBS Add the course code “MAT303” to the heading of your email so they are easier to find it in the stream of emails.  

Exam schedules

The final exam for all students btw 17-26.4. in Exam room at the University.
.

Completion alternatives

Taking an exam at the University Exam Room on the course readings during 17-26.4.

Please, register to the option of independent studying by 8th March -- by sending an email to teacher -- if you know that you will not be able to attend all lectures given in classroom. (Attending only the VastuuMatka4 seminar and the final online-session of the course are not on option.)

OBS! Students who wish the study the course readings in the form of reading groups are encouraged to do so. I can pass on the information of this willingness among those who let me know in the connection of informing me about studying independently.

Next possibility to take the course is first in next spring 2024. No option in the summer.

Further information

Please, note, that this course will adopt classic academic teaching and learning forms. Hence, the students have to listen to lectures, make notes, discuss the topics in class and read linked readings that the lectures draw from.

Power points will not be shared afterwords, and lectures will not be recorded.

The aim is to restore what pandemic demolished in terms of academic communality. Also, ChatGPT will not be used during this course.

The course contents and weekly tasks have been reduced in order to make more room for reading and focusing on studying in the mode of deep learning.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Fail: Performance is highly deficient or erroneous. The work may be based on serious misunderstandings.

Sufficient and satisfactory (1-2): Performance is lacking in scope, superficial, or corresponds poorly to the assignment. The author merely lists things out of context or addresses them one-sidedly. The work may contain errors or obscurities.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good and very good (3-4): Performance corresponds to the assignment, manifesting comprehension and a skill to analyse and justify. The author has addressed the issue comprehensively. The work may contain some deficiencies.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5): Performance delineates an extensive whole and the author can apply knowledge in a multifaceted way or place it in various contexts. The work manifests independency and insight, and it is a flawless entity that involves justified thinking or critical contemplation. The work is well written and implemented.

Qualifications

Preferably at least two prior years of university studies (in whatever discipline)

Further information

Timing 4th period (distant learner’s option is available in the fifth period in the summer).

The course is organised by the University of Lapland but can also be selected by the students from the Lapland University of Applied Sciences.