Iranian Kai Khusrau Crosses the Jihun, from the Shahnama of Firdausi 1455 - 1465 ink, opaque watercolor, and gold leaf | paper Museum Purchase 1963/1.50
Manuel Alvarez Bravo Bicycles on Sunday (Bicicletas en domingo), from "Manuel Alvarez Bravo" 1966 - 1981 gelatin silver print | paper Gift of Lawrence and Carol Zicklin 1987/1.174.14
Max Pechstein Heidenstamm, from "Marsyas" 1918 drypoint and etching | paper Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art 1981/2.90
"What defines adventure, and who gets to have one? Who gets to tell of one? How do we read narratives of adventure—and evaluate them? What does this vicarious engagement and pleasure mean for the genre of adventure writing, whether as fiction or as non-fiction? And where, finally, do the lines of commitment or safety lie for either adventurer or writer or both? In this course, we shall frame our discussions around such questions as we read some of the finest adventure writing available in English. From Gwen Moffat’s introspective and outrageous climbing life to Tenzing Norgay’s balance of professional risk and safety, from Robyn Davidson’s learning and loss in her remarkable solo desert journey in Australia to Lauret Savoy’s articulation of her stakes in the North American landscape, from Robert Louis Stevenson’s enduringly popular fiction to the non-fiction of journalist Jon Krakauer, we shall range far and wide as we discuss and understand craft, allure, and responsibility."