60-345 Critical Studies: The Art of the Detour: The History of Walking and Wandering

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This seminar investigates walking not only as a physical act but as an artistic and critical practice. We will trace connections between walking and psychogeography, performance, Fluxus, and urban studies, considering how wandering shapes perception, memory, and critique. Readings from Walter Benjamin, Rebecca Solnit, Janet Cardiff, and others will anchor our discussions, while students put theory into practice through guided walking experiments. Together we will explore how the seemingly ordinary act of moving through space intersects with surveillance, mapping, resistance, and storytelling.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Spring 2026

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