BOOKPACKERS AT U.S.C.

In 2016, the University of Southern California adopted BOOKPACKERS as a innovative cross-humanities concept in undergraduate education.

Andrew currently leads four BOOKPACKING classes at USC, each with a different focus and format. Two more classes are in development.

Andrew teaches two classes at U.S.C. during the Spring Semester.

• BOOKPACKING LOS ANGELES is a Saturday class. 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.

• BOOKPACKING AMERICA is a seminar class (T/Th 9.30-10.50), offering a virtual road trip from New England to the Hispanic South West, using classic and contemporary fiction to explore the varied cultures of the nation.

These are GE-B classes, open to all. Sign up via open registration as part of November enrollment.

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. 

Andrew leads two Maymester classes at USC.

• BOOKPACKING NEW ORLEANS is a month-long experience in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana, a vibrant and unique region of America where Creole, Cajun, African-American and White Protestant traditions meet. 

• BOOKPACKING NEW YORK offers a month-long Maymester exploring life and literature in New York - a city of cultural, historical and contemporary complexity, and the setting of so much great fiction.

Andrew will be leading the New Orleans Maymester in 2025 and 2026. The New York Maymester is scheduled to launch in 2027 - watch this space.

Applications for New Orleans 2025 have now closed and the class is fully enrolled.

Summers Session classes are held in the latter weeks of the summer vacation (mid July to mid August).

Andrew leads two Julymester classes at USC.

• BOOKPACKING LONDON AND PARIS offers students the opportunity to spend a month in London and Paris, bookpacking two classic historical novels - ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens, and ‘Les Misérables’ by Victor Hugo.

• BOOKPACKING BERLIN is a new offering in which students will explore a city at the heart of 20th century history through a host of great novels, from Isherwood’s iconic ‘Goodbye to Berlin’ to the spy fiction of the 1960s.

Andrew will be leading the London / Paris Summer Session in 2025 and 2026, and the Berlin Summer Session is scheduled to launch in 2027.

Applications for London / Paris 2025 trip are now open via the Student Travel Abroad portal.

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. Please contact the undergraduate advisors in English for more information.

BOOKPACKING LONDON AND PARIS and BOOKPACKING BERLIN are 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.