Abdulaziz (Aziz) Alfailakawi

Although there is educational merit in travel, tourism is ineffective in producing the authentic engagement necessary for an effective education. The issue with tourism lies in a tension between desire and reality in which the tourist seeks out authentic experience but is unable to do so by nature of their endeavor. Whether traveling in pursuit of entertainment or learning, the tourist imposes an otherness on their destination both through the presupposition of difference prior to their trip, as well as an accentuation of cultural distinctions upon arrival. In this paper, I explore these issues and provide an alternative form of travel more conducive to education—de-centered travel. Rather than seeking out an authentic cultural experience, de-centered travelers seek only to experience the journey undertaken.

Throughout the realm of aesthetics there is the general sentiment that kitsch is inherently immoral. Although kitsch itself is a relatively ambiguous term, objects falling into this category are charged with a negative ethical stigma due to their being sentimental and manipulative. In this paper, I articulate the shakiness of the claim that kitsch _is_ immoral by first comparing three accounts of kitsch to demonstrate how the term “kitsch” can be applied (or denied) to various aesthetic objects. I then argue that the charges of sentimentality and manipulation create further ambiguities regarding kitsch. I conclude that although certain objects can be kitsch, to categorically denounce kitsch on an ethical basis is too strong a claim.