A new student art show, Travel Posters & Soundscapes, is now on display in the Russo Gallery through Winter Term. The exhibit features a collection of soundscapes and activist posters created by the students from this fall’s COCO 26: What’s in Your Toolbox? The Politics of Travel in the Context of Globalization class.
Taught by Professors Casey Aldrich & Mokhtar Bouba, the course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on why and how we travel.
The works challenge the traditional focus on “sightseeing” by foregrounding sound and promoting mindful, ethical travel. As an experiential class, students turned Dartmouth and the Upper Valley into their “travel destination”, practicing curiosity and critical reflection to gain a deep “sense of place”.
The exhibit features interactive student-produced soundscapes of Dartmouth/Hanover/the Upper Valley as well as the students’ home communities, which prioritize the art of listening to access a deeper understanding of space and place.
The posters are designed to raise awareness about critical questions surrounding travel, tourism, and globalization, such as:
- How often do we consider the impact of our presence in the communities we visit?
- How do tourism’s multi-billion-dollar industry and colonial legacies shape our perceptions of places and people?
- How does travel change our perception and understanding of ourselves and our homes?
