A World to Discover

Why Should You Take This Elective?

Travel is more than just a journey—it’s a lens through which we can explore culture, identity, and history. This module, A World to Discover: Travel Memoirs and Memorabilia at Trinity, invites you to reflect on the many reasons people travel, from curiosity and adventure to colonization and war. You’ll dive into personal travel records, reimagined stories, and the objects people bring home, all while exploring how these experiences have shaped individual and collective histories. If you’ve ever wondered about the deeper meanings of travel or are curious about its cultural significance, this elective is for you.

What Will You Learn?

• Reflect on how travel acts as a cultural encounter and how experiences differ based on purpose, attitude, and context.
• Analyse both written and material records of travel and understand their impact on individuals, communities, and history.
• Compare your own travel experiences with those of others, past and present, and consider how these stories are shared and remembered.
• Choose your own case studies and responsibly examine the cultural and ethical issues they raise.

What Will You Do?

• Attend engaging lectures to explore how travel has been recorded and understood throughout history.
• Participate in interactive discussions to analyse and compare travel experiences, both personal and historical.
• Explore memoirs and memorabilia from past travels within the unique collections of Trinity College Library.
• Work in teams to analyse and contextualise different travel records, considering their cultural significance and historical impact.

How Is It Delivered?

• Face-to-face introductory and interactive lectures (approx. 14 hours).
• Directed engagement with materials and online discussions (approx. 30 hours).
• Individual reflective writing on travel experiences and materials (approx. 25 hours).
• Collaborative team project, producing a digital poster and video (approx. 30 hours).

How Will It Be Assessed?

• Individual Critical Essay (50%): Write a short essay on one of the special topics, analysing primary and secondary sources.
• Team Project (50%): Collaborate to create a digital poster and video, researching and contextualising a travel record from Trinity’s Digital collections, with use of critical literature and comparative materials.

Who Can Take This Elective?

Open to all students eligible to take a Trinity Elective.

This module invites you to explore travel not just as a physical act, but as a profound cultural experience that shapes both personal identities and global histories. Join us on this intellectual journey, using the archives of Trinity College to investigate the fascinating intersections between travel, memory, and culture.

* Please note that assessment methods, assessment weightings and amount of contact hours are subject to change by the module coordinator. You can confirm all assessment details and expected contact hours with the module coordinator upon starting the elective.