First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-23)

Topic

The Dark Side of Paradise: Colonialism, Tourism, a

Instructors

Maria Jose Cornejo

Meeting Info

University Hall 418: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

Tropical beaches, all-inclusive resorts, coconut water. As Chicago gets cold, we might see escapist advertisements for tropical settings, turquoise oceans, palm trees, and maybe Bad Bunny playing in the background. But does "paradise" have a history? Where is it located, what does it look like, and why is it pleasurable? Is "paradise" real? In this first-year seminar, students explore how the idea of tropical paradise has been imagined, produced, and contested from the early colonial period to the present. Through European, US, and Caribbean literature, we will trace how paradise emerges not as a neutral fantasy, but as a concept deeply shaped by empire, labor, tourism, and inequality. We begin 1492, by reading Christopher Columbus's Diaries as he arrives in the Caribbean believing he has reached India, and move to the Indian Ocean in The Lusiads by Luis Vaz de Camoes (1572), where the goddess Aphrodite creates a tropical island as a reward for Portuguese explorers. From there, we will jump to the contemporary world, examining how colonial histories of the tropics are reworked—and challenged—under modern tourism. Readings include Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place (1988), an enraged critique of tourism and underdevelopment in Antigua; David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (1997), a sardonic account of a cruise through the Caribbean; and Bad Bunny's latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos (I Should Have Taken More Photos, 2025), which reflects on reggaeton, pleasure, and the neocolonial realities of Puerto Rico. Students will develop their own writing as they question what paradise means, how it has been crafted, and reimagine how a true paradise would look like.

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required