Thinking about Travel

Travel plays an important part in the lives of many people. Travelling can broaden our scope when we are exposed to unfamiliar cultures, it can provide wonderful experiences we would otherwise miss out on, and it can make people feel connected with strangers. At the same time, the tourism industry makes travel a consumption good which is widely unequally distributed, and frequently comes with significant social and environmental costs. Moreover, travel can be paradoxical: we may seek authenticity by traveling, while the presence of too many travelers can make a place feel completely unauthentic. Critical reflection on travel is more important than ever, and the development of philosophy of travel should be done in collaboration with existing research in other academic fields.

The Department of Philosophy at Tilburg University hosts the First Interdisciplinary Workshop on travel and tourism, Thinking about Travel. This one-day in person event consists on three successive panels on transdisciplinary themes: I. Tourism and Value  (Tourism Studies + Philosophy); II. Travel, Gender, and Curiosity (History + Philosophy); and III. Tourist Imagination (Culture Studies + Philosophy).