BOOKPACKERS is an undergraduate travel experience in which students explore novels on the road - ‘The Big Sleep’ in Los Angeles, ‘Interview With The Vampire’ in New Orleans, ‘Beloved' in Cincinnati.
BOOKPACKERS is the vision of contemporary educator Andrew Chater, who leads six different bookpacking classes at the University of Southern California.
Andrew invites student bookpackers to use novels as an invitation to adventure and to empathetic connection. His classes inspire students to use fiction as portals through which to experience the different cultures of this nation, encouraging dialogue and understanding in an age of profound division.
Bookpacking Nina Revoyr’s ‘Southland’ in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
USC Student Bookpackers in New Orleans
Immersive 'Maymester' Classes
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Immersive 'Maymester' Classes 〰️
In May / June, immediately following commencement, USC offers students a series of off-campus classes set abroad and in cities across the U.S.A.. These ‘special session’ programs are called Maymesters.
BOOKPACKING NEW ORLEANS (Spring 2026) is a Maymester class in which students spend a month in New Orleans and the bayous regions of Southern Louisiana, exploring local cultures whilst reading a series of classic and contemporary New Orleans novels.
BOOKPACKING NEW YORK (Spring 2027) offers students the opportunity to spend a month in New York, exploring a dynamic selection of novels from classics like ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ to more contemporary texts like Teju Cole’s ‘Open City’ and Gish Jen’s ‘Typical American’.
spring semester classes
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spring semester classes 〰️
Andrew offers two seminar classes at U.S.C. in the Spring Semester.
BOOKPACKING AMERICA (T/Th 9.30-10.50) offers students a virtual road trip from New England to the Hispanic South West, using classic and contemporary fiction to explore the varied cultures of the U.S.A..
BOOKPACKING CALIFORNIA (T/Th 12.30-1.50) invites students to dig deep into the myriad voices of our home state, California. We explore texts from Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’ to contemporary works like Jaime Cortez’s ‘Gordo’, and ‘There There’ by Tommy Orange.
These are GE-B classes, open to all. Sign up via open registration as part of November enrollment.
Saturday Class
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Saturday Class 〰️
BOOKPACKING LOS ANGELES is an immersive Saturday class offered in the Spring Semester. The students meet for a seminar on Saturday mornings, and then in the afternoon we head off-campus, bookpacking Los Angeles through a range of L.A. novels.
Summer Session
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Summer Session 〰️
Summer Session classes are held in the latter weeks of the summer vacation (mid July to mid August).
BOOKPACKING PARIS AND LONDON is a summer session class offering students the opportunity to spend a month in Paris and London, bookpacking two classic historical novels - ‘Les Misérables’ by Victor Hugo, and ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.
BOOKPACKERS at U.S.C. is the creative endeavor of Andrew Chater with executive producer Marion Dole.
BOOKPACKERS classes are offered by the U.S.C. Department of English. They are GE-B classes and open to all U.S.C. undergraduate students. Please contact the undergraduate advisors in English for more information.
BOOKPACKING PARIS AND LONDON is co-sponsored by the Department of History.
All off-campus classes at U.S.C. are co-administrated by the Department of Faculty Led Programs.
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