IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting Spring 2023, all non-driver trip participant spots will be selected at random due to high demand. Links will accept sign-ups until 12AM Sunday
Big Sur & Montaña de Oro State Park, CA
Get ready to relax and enjoy some beautiful nature during this road trip before finals week! We’ll drive up to our campsite in Montaña de Oro State Park, San Luis Obispo on Friday and do a short sunset hike, looking at the tide pools, marine animals, wildflowers, and rock formations! Saturday, we’ll wake up bright and early to drive up further to Pfeifer State Park and spend the day hitting the most iconic Big Sur locations! Beaches, coves, cliffs, forest waterfalls…this place has it all. On Sunday we’ll pack up and head back to campus. Professor Trope and Professor Kemper—faculty in SCA and Annenberg—will be joining us with their family on this busy, sight-seeing packed camping trip!
PACKING LIST:
Sleeping bag + pad
H2O — ~2 full liters per person!
Mess kit (plate/bowl/utensils)
Hiking shoes & clothes
Layers! Lots of them! You can never have too many layers!
Rain coat
Toothbrush & general life items
Sunglasses, sunscreen, hat
WE WILL PROVIDE: FOR OVERNIGHTS ETC
Sleeping bags/pads if you don’t have one already!
Tents
Friday dinner through Sunday lunch
PROFESSOR: Alison Trope
DEPARTMENT: Communication
Professor: Tom Kemper
Department: Cinematic Arts,
Communication
Alison received a PhD from SCA in Critical Studies in 1999 and has taught classes in media and popular culture at the Annenberg School for Communication since 2001. She is a passionate advocate of media literacy and directs Critical Media Project, an educational resource and initiative aimed at youth and their teachers. She is currently helping to design a social justice filmmaking curriculum called Equity Everywhere that is sponsored by the March on Washington Film Festival and will pilot in LAUSD next year.
Tom received a PhD from SCA in 2007 and teaches film studies at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. He also adjuncts at SCA and Annenberg, teaching classes on film and media industries. He loves music and just finished a book on the Monkees coming out this summer. He has also written on Toy Story and early Hollywood talent agents.
Alison and Tom met at USC in 1993 while in graduate school at SCA and have been married for over 20 years. They have two sons—one a sophomore at RISD studying furniture design and the other a freshman in high school.
PEAK: Big Sur
DIFFICULTY: 3/5. Hikes will be shorter, but may be steep/rugged at times.
SCENERY: Redwood forests x sparkling beaches x flowering meadows x crashing waterfalls.
TRIP LEAD: Gia Lang
Contact Gia: giavanna@usc.edu
Read Gia’s bio here.