Sandra B Straubhaar

Who were the Vikings, and why is the twenty-first century so fascinated with them? (Is “Viking” an ethnic adjective or a job description? Did they call themselves Vikings?)  Were they as fierce and bloodthirsty as the movies sometimes show? Why did they act as they did? What language did they speak? What did they wear? What did they eat? What kinds of weapons and tools did they use?What were the women among them like? What are runes? What are the Eddas? What are the Sagas? What were Viking-age politics and social constructs like? What about Viking technology, religion, and art? (What is Ásatrú? Would the Vikings have known the term?) What are the (complex!) political implications of Vikings, and Viking-age religion and culture, in today’s Europe? If you are interested in any of these questions, you have come to the right place!

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Texts:

Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (textbook). Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (workbook).

This course uses Jesse Byock’s _Viking Language_ book to introduce students to Old Norse/Old Icelandic language, literature, history, and culture in a way that is both academically sound and optimally accessible. We will explore the Viking-Age world (793-1066 C.E.) through its extant texts: runic inscriptions, poetry, sagas, and chronicles. Lessons will introduce vocabulary and grammar at a manageable pace using selected period prose and poetry passages, assigned in order of increasing complexity, as well as exercises using constructed sentences. All four of the modalities of foreign-language learning – reading, writing, listening and speaking – will be integrated into the course, with stress on the first two. Icelandic Pronunciation (IP) will be used.    Graduate students, should they wish to enroll, will be further required to purchase Gordon and Taylor’s Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford, 1981) and to complete additional translation assignments.

Grading:

• 40 % Attendance, Daily Quizzes, and Homework
• 30 % Midterm
• 30 % Final

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

It happened in music, it happened in arts, and it happened in literature – the transition to modernity asked for completely new expressions in order to interpret the revolutions that happened in the society and in the human relationships. In this course we will read a variety of texts from the golden age of Scandinavian literature - 1890-1910 - and we will at the end of the course be able to understand why and what happened in that period, and that will increase our understanding of a world of thoughts and ideas which laid the foundation for the emancipated lives we are all living.

The transition to modernity in Scandinavia created namely an artistic outburst never seen before or since. The amount of eternal classics written in that period is astounding. Nobel prize-winning authors like Knut Hamsun, Selma Lagerlöf, Johannes V. Jensen, Sigrid Undset and Henrik Pontoppidan all wrote masterpieces in that period as did August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen.

This course is enhancing the students’ analytical skills in reading texts, but as we can’t understand these texts if they are not read according to the historical and social context in which they were written, we will also take a closer look at the many societal changes. It means that the students will be acquainted with the most important social reforms of the day, and they will be able to analyze historical events and their significance for the individual person.

Reading:

August Strindberg: Miss Julie and other plays, Knut Hamsun: Hunger, Selma Lagerlöf: Saga of Gosta Berling, Henrik Ibsen: Four major plays, Johannes V. Jensen: Fall of the king, Hjalmar Soderberg: Doctor Glas, Sigrid Undset: Gunnar’s daughter

Grading:

Essays: 30%

Quizzes: 20%

Midterm: 10%

Participation: 20%

Final essay: 20%

Please check back for updates.

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

DESCRIPTION:

The life and writings of Saint Birgitta of Sweden, fourteenth-century visionary, religious reformer and pilgrim, will be examined and compared with her predecessor Hildegard of Bingen (Germany) and her successor Margery Kempe (England).  Social and historical contexts for all three visionary women will be explored in depth, particularly the factors behind Birgitta’s emerging as such an authoritative voice, both political and religious, within the milieu of fourteenth-century Europe.  Other related figures, predominantly Julian of Norwich, but also Christina of Markyate, Christina Mirabilis, Angela de Foligno, Jeanne d’Arc and Catherine of Siena may be visited.  We will also explore varieties of spirituality and spiritual thinking including: anchorism and asceticism; Marian piety and Goddess-imagery; virginity and female creativity; and  bridal imagery.  Any theoretical framework – religious; scientific; theological; medical; archetypal; or any other – will be allowed.  No single orthodoxy or heterodoxy should become primary in our investigations: all may have a voice (and it need not be a consistent one).  We will try to allow the past to speak for itself, always realizing that we, the readers/listeners/watchers, will necessarily apply some kind of “spin” based on our own backgrounds. 

Two things to remember when you investigate the lives and thought of people of the past: 1. They were vastly different from us; and 2) They were uncannily like us.  Both 1) and 2) are entirely true.

GRADING:

This course is a Writing Flag course, and most of your grade will come from the evaluation of writing-related activities.

The breakdown is like this:

Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):    10 %

Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each =   30 %

In-class peer review activities on these papers:    10 %

Reading Journals (turned in every other Wednesday)    15 %

One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4):    15 %

One six-page research paper:      20 %

This course will introduce students to nineteenth- to twenty-first-century children’s literature from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Authors highlighted will include Heinrich Hoffmann (Struwwelpeter), Wilhelm Busch (Max and Moritz), Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking, Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, The Red Bird, The Brothers Lionheart), Erich Kästner (Emil and the Detectives), Dick Bruna (Miffy), Jostein Gaarder (Sophie’s World), Bjarne Reuter (The Boys from St. Petri), Tove Jansson (Finn Family Moomintroll), Otfried Preussler (The Robber Hotzenplotz, Krabat), Walter Moers (Capt’n Bluebear), Cornelia Funke (Inkworld, Mirrorworld), Sven Nordqvist (Pancakes for Findus), Michael Ende (Momo, Jim Button, The Neverending Story), Jacques Vriens (You’re a Hen!), Annie M. G. Schmidt and Fiep Westendorp (Jip and Janneke), and Klaus Schädelin (My Name is Eugen). Students are encouraged to explore additional authors and works for papers or group projects. Emphasis will be placed on the prominent place of children’s literature in the popular culture of central and northern Europe, as well as the serious issues and themes which north Americans might otherwise consider “adult” that are often found in this genre -- death, war, poverty, social justice, and family conflict, for example – alongside whimsy, warmth and wonder.

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Check back later.

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Texts:

Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (textbook). Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (workbook).

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Description and readings:

This course will introduce students to twentieth- and twenty-first-century children’s literature from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Authors highlighted may include Astrid Lindgren (The Red Bird, The Brothers Lionheart), Jostein Gaarder (Sophie’s World), Bjarne Reuter (The Boys from St. Petri), Otfried Preussler (Krabat), Walter Moers (Capt’n Bluebear), Cornelia Funke (Inkworld, Mirrorworld), Michael Ende (Momo, Jim Button), Jacques Vriens (Eighth Graders Don’t Cry), Annie M. G. Schmidt (Little Abel), and Klaus Schädelin (My Name is Eugen). Additional authors and works may be explored by students for papers or group projects. Emphasis will be placed on the prominent place of children’s literature in the popular culture of central and northern Europe, as well as the serious issues and themes which north Americans might otherwise consider “adult” that are often found in this genre -- death, war, poverty, social justice, and family conflict, for example – alongside whimsy, warmth and wonder.

Grading:

Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):                                   10 %

Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each                                    30 %

In-class peer review activities on student papers:                                        10 %

Reading Journals (turned in approx. every other Wednesday)                      15 %

One three- to five-page group project w/Power Point (groups of 3-4):       15 %

One six-page research paper:                                                                        20 %

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Texts:

Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (textbook). Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (workbook).

Description:

This course uses Jesse Byock’s _Viking Language_ book to introduce students to Old Norse/Old Icelandic language, literature, history, and culture in a way that is both academically sound and optimally accessible. We will explore the Viking-Age world (793-1066 C.E.) through its extant texts: runic inscriptions, poetry, sagas, and chronicles. Lessons will introduce vocabulary and grammar at a manageable pace using selected period prose and poetry passages, assigned in order of increasing complexity, as well as exercises using constructed sentences. All four of the modalities of foreign-language learning – reading, writing, listening and speaking – will be integrated into the course, with stress on the first two. Icelandic Pronunciation (IP) will be used.    Graduate students, should they wish to enroll, will be further required to purchase Gordon and Taylor’s Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford, 1981) and to complete additional translation assignments.

Readings:

Jesse L. Byock, _Viking Language_. Los Angeles: Jules William Press, 2013.

Grading:

40 % Attendance, Daily Quizzes, and Homework

30 % Midterm

30 % Final

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Check back later.

Please check back for updates.

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Texts:

Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (textbook). Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (workbook).

Description:

Who were the Vikings, and why is the twenty-first century so fascinated with them? (Is “Viking” an ethnic adjective or a job description? Did they call themselves Vikings?)  Were they as fierce and bloodthirsty as the movies sometimes show? Why did they act as they did? What language did they speak? What did they wear? What did they eat? What kinds of weapons and tools did they use?What were the women among them like? What are runes? What are the Eddas? What are the Sagas? What were Viking-age politics and social constructs like? What about Viking technology, religion, and art? (What is Ásatrú? Would the Vikings have known the term?) What are the (complex!) political implications of Vikings, and Viking-age religion and culture, in today’s Europe? If you are interested in any of these questions, you have come to the right place!

TEXTS:         

1. A History of the Vikings, Gwyn Jones (Oxford University Press)

                        (Below called JONES)

2. Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas, Gwyn Jones (Oxford University Press)

                        (Below called EIRIK)

3. Chronicles of the Vikings, R. I. Page (University of Toronto Press)

                        (Below called PAGE)

4. The Poetic Edda: A New Translation by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford)

                        (Below called EDDA)

5. The Sagas of Icelanders ed. Robert Kellogg (Penguin)

                        (Below called SAGAS)

Optional – for those with linguistic interests:            

Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern, ed. Gustav Neckel & Hans Kuhn (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1983)

(Don’t worry about the German foreword if you can’t handle German.  The poem texts are transcribed straight from the MSS. – mostly the 13th-c. Icelandic Codex Regius [designated as R in the book].  What you have here is the closest thing available to the Real Thing, when it comes to Eddic poetry)

Glossary to the Poetic Edda, Beatrice LaFarge and John Tucker (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1992)

(The glossary made to match the above edition.  Two cautions: Remember that definitions incorporate interpretations; and remember that Old Norse / Old Icelandic was a highly inflected language: simply translating word by word may not get you where you want to go.  If you’re serious about this, get a copy of E. V. Gordon’s Introduction to Old Norse [Oxford], which has a grammatical summary in the back)

Recommended Basic Books on Nordic Myth:

(Note: Check other books with me.  There are many popular-press books on this topic which can be fun, but are not academically rigorous)

            Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, by H. R. E. Davidson (Penguin, 1964+)

            Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, by Thomas A. DuBois (U. of Penn., 1999)

            Dictionary of Northern Mythology, by Rudolf Simek (Brewer, 1993)

            Myth and Religion of the North, by Gabriel Turville-Petre (Holt, 1964)

Grading:

Since this is a Writing Flag course, there will be three papers of five to six pages, all of which may be rewritten at least once; plus two in-class writing assignments.

Course grade will be calculated as follows:

• Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due): 10 %
• Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each: 30 %
• In-class peer review activities on these papers: 10 %
• Reading Journals (turned in every other Friday) :      15 %
• One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4): 15 %
• One six-page research paper: 20 %

The three papers are to be mini-research papers with a minimum of three outside sources. (Use academic books [or journal articles – from historical, archaeological, or literary journals, for instance] rather than popular ones. UT Library has a magnificent Scandinavian collection; please be considerate of your classmates in sharing resources for this course. The Internet, on the other hand, contains much non-academic material on the Vikings, of very uneven quality.  If there is an Internet source you feel you must use, send me the link plenty of time in advance so that I can vet it. 

The two in-class writing assignments will be spontaneously generated responses to a question or questions designed to get you thinking about a synthesis of course material. (I don’t have to agree with your conclusions: simply make your argument well.)

Obvious discrepancies in your writing style between the three papers and the two writing assignments will raise the issues outlines in the next paragraph. You have been warned. 

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Please check back for updates.

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Texts:

Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (textbook). Lie and Aarsvold,  Sett i gang 2 (workbook).

Please check back for updates.

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Please check back for updates.

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Grading Policy:

Exams 50%.

Homework 30%.

Class Participation 20%.

Texts:

O'Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intrmediate Norwegian. (textbook). O?Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intermediate Norwegian (arbeidsbok).

Please check back for updates.

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Course Description:   

Folktales recur in retellings across national borders and time periods in Europe and beyond, from prehistory and antiquity through today’s popular culture; it can be argued that “the ability to tell a story” is one of the hallmarks of the human species.  This class will focus mostly on collected folktales, but also on their literary retellings and adaptations, in printable story form (mostly prose, but occasionally in song) as well as in film and illustration.   

We will examine both a wide selection of collected Indo-European folktales as well as numerous perspectives for understanding, interpreting and applying these tales.  We will look at the aesthetic, ethical, social, historical and psychological values that (it can be argued that) the tales reflect in themselves.  In addition, we will read and discuss significant theoretical and methodological paradigms applicable to the folktales under study, including such perspectives as formalist / structuralist (Aarne & Thompson, Propp), nationalist / aesthetic (Grimm, Lang, Tolkien), mythic / archetypal (Jung, Campbell, Tolkien, Bly, Pinkola-Estés), socio-historical (Darnton, Warner, Rowe, Zipes, Tatar, Shavit), psychoanalytical / therapeutic (Bettelheim, Pinkola-Estés, Haase), and feminist / gender studies approaches (Warner, Gilbert & Gubar, Rowe, Pinkola-Estés, Bly).  Throughout the course, we will be simultaneously exploring the enduring presence of folktale-derived narrative in current popular and high culture.  (NOTE: If, at any time during this course, you “recognize”  a story that you are more familiar with from a different, or more modern venue, tell us!  This is a fun bonus.)   

Upon completion of this course, the student should be familiar with a variety of Indo-European folktales, be able to discuss several approaches to studying them, be able to identify the most important motifs of these tales, be familiar with some of the most influential folklorists, writers and editors of the tales, and be able to assess the significance of folktales for contemporary Western culture.   

The class presupposes no prior work in folklore or the folktale; it is intended to introduce students to a fascinating, multicultural set of texts, and to ask questions about folk culture, oral tradition, and story-telling that continue to interest anthropologists, literary scholars, linguists and the general public.

Note: This course, and its syllabus, owe an immeasurable debt to the late D. L. Ashliman and to John Lyon, both of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Single Most F.A.Q.:  So. . .what counts as a Folk Tale?

Answer: That depends on whom you’re talking to.

One of the authors we’re learning about in the class, Vladimir Propp, has a very narrow definition.  He counts only the traditionally preserved coming-of-age stories where the hero/heroine leaves home to seek his/her fortune, is helped  by magical beings, successfully quests for a magical object and returns home with a new spouse.  (“The Firebird” or “The Flying Ship” or “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” are good examples of this.)  The cool thing about a Proppian tale is that it follows an easily plottable scheme or template – which is also nicely compatible with Joseph Campbell’s template for the Hero-Journey.

Other authors we’ll be reading, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, are also interested in narrowing down the field – which tales do we “allow in” to our material for study? – but may or may not draw the same categorical boundaries as Propp does.

Still other authors, such as D. L. Ashliman (the author of our anthology, Voices from the Past) would like to broaden the definition of what constitutes a folktale.  Ashliman, for instance, includes:

•    the above stories (Proppian tales / mini-hero-journeys)

•    other traditional tales – animal tales; legends associated with a specific place (such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Lorelei); funny stories of quarreling couples; trickster tales; tall tales; mythological stories; ghost stories; tales of folk heroes (such as Wilhelm Tell or Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill); shaggy-dog stories; miracles of saints; workplace folklore; among other things. . .

•    illustrative stories from antiquity, such as the fables of Æsop (The Tortoise and the Hare, Androcles and the Lion) or the parables of Jesus (The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan)

•    as well as non-traditional stories composed by known authors from the last few centuries, deliberately constructed using a traditional-tale style or one similar to it – authors such as Ludwig Tieck, E. T. A. Hoffmann, H. C. Andersen, George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Karen Blixen, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, Angela Carter, Maurice Sendak, Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, Ellen Kushner, Charles deLint, Gail Carson Levine, Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, Neil Gaiman and many others.

We’ll touch a little bit on most of the above types of tales.

We’ll stick mostly to prose (and retellings of prose narratives, including film).  Many of these tales have been retold in poetry (ballads or epics), or in prose narratives that are too lengthy to be called tales (such as Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur) but we won’t visit these forms as much.

TEXTS: Books at the Co-Op ; Packet at IT Copy on MLK (west of Guadalupe, north side):    

1. COURSE PACKET at IT Copy.  It’s advisable to phone them first (476-6662) to tell them you’re coming – it gives them a chance to make a new copy for you off the master if they don’t currently have enough on the shelf.  Buy it ASAP! The Packet includes lots of independent readings plus the main text for the course, D. L. Ashliman’s Voices from the Past anthology, which is out of print; we have permission to reprint it. (VfP in the schedule below)

2. Tatar, Maria (ed.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.   ISBN 03939 72771   

3. Opie, Iona & Peter (eds.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.  ISBN 01952 02198     

GRADING

Attendance, Participation, Quizzes+              10 %

Tests [2 in-class examinations,* 30% each]   60%

Final Exam* [Comprehensive]                    30%

*Tests and Exam will consist of true-false, multiple-choice, short fill-ins, picture identifications, and short essays.

+You may make up a missed quiz/missed attendance TWICE (but no more) during the course of the semester by submitting a Film Report of a fairy-tale-based NON-DISNEY movie [like: Ever After (1998); Legend  (1985); Ella Enchanted  (2004); The Slipper and the Rose (1976); In the Company of Wolves (1984); Jack the Giant Killer (1962); Beauty and the Beast  (Cocteau, 1946) and many others.]

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Grading Policy:

Exams 50%.

Homework 30%.

Class Participation 20%.

Texts:

O'Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intrmediate Norwegian. (textbook). O?Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intermediate Norwegian (arbeidsbok).

DESCRIPTION:

This course is intended as an introduction to the language of the Viking Age and medieval Scandinavia, with attention given to comparative Germanic grammar and vocabulary.

Work will begin with basic noun and verb paradigms and simple artificial sentences, quickly proceeding to authentic texts drawn from the following:

Sagas of the Icelanders (example: Njáls saga); Legendary Sagas (example: Völsunga saga); Eddic Poetry (example: Hávamál); Runic Inscriptions; Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda; Chronicles and Histories; Skaldic Poetry; and Early Law Codes.

“The Old Northern tongue (called Icelandic because it is only in Iceland that it survives in its purity as a living language, and because it was Icelanders that built up its classic literature of prose and verse) more than any other language resembles our own.”

-- E. R. Eddison,1930

Prerequisites:

No specific language-proficiency isrequired, but a good background in grammar (ex: case systems  and subject- vs. object-pronouns) will be extremely helpful.  Knowledge of the German language is a plus.

TEXTS:

(Buy these two)

Gordon & Taylor, Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford)

Geir T. Zoëga, Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic*  (U. of Toronto)

There will be supplementary material (in Xerox form) from:

            Michael Barnes, A New Introduction to Old Norse (Viking Society, 1999)

            Valfells and Cathey, Old Icelandic: An Introductory Course (Oxford, 1981)           

(*Just to get this out of the way: Old Norse = Old Icelandic.  Pick one.  Or don’t.)

 GRADING:

There will be a short weekly quiz every Friday, initially based entirely on some aspect of the material we have covered during the week.  By the end of the semester we will almost certainly be trying some “cold translations.”

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Course Description:   

Folktales recur in retellings across national borders and time periods in Europe and beyond, from prehistory and antiquity through today’s popular culture; it can be argued that “the ability to tell a story” is one of the hallmarks of the human species.  This class will focus mostly on collected folktales, but also on their literary retellings and adaptations, in printable story form (mostly prose, but occasionally in song) as well as in film and illustration.   

We will examine both a wide selection of collected Indo-European folktales as well as numerous perspectives for understanding, interpreting and applying these tales.  We will look at the aesthetic, ethical, social, historical and psychological values that (it can be argued that) the tales reflect in themselves.  In addition, we will read and discuss significant theoretical and methodological paradigms applicable to the folktales under study, including such perspectives as formalist / structuralist (Aarne & Thompson, Propp), nationalist / aesthetic (Grimm, Lang, Tolkien), mythic / archetypal (Jung, Campbell, Tolkien, Bly, Pinkola-Estés), socio-historical (Darnton, Warner, Rowe, Zipes, Tatar, Shavit), psychoanalytical / therapeutic (Bettelheim, Pinkola-Estés, Haase), and feminist / gender studies approaches (Warner, Gilbert & Gubar, Rowe, Pinkola-Estés, Bly).  Throughout the course, we will be simultaneously exploring the enduring presence of folktale-derived narrative in current popular and high culture.  (NOTE: If, at any time during this course, you “recognize”  a story that you are more familiar with from a different, or more modern venue, tell us!  This is a fun bonus.)   

Upon completion of this course, the student should be familiar with a variety of Indo-European folktales, be able to discuss several approaches to studying them, be able to identify the most important motifs of these tales, be familiar with some of the most influential folklorists, writers and editors of the tales, and be able to assess the significance of folktales for contemporary Western culture.   

The class presupposes no prior work in folklore or the folktale; it is intended to introduce students to a fascinating, multicultural set of texts, and to ask questions about folk culture, oral tradition, and story-telling that continue to interest anthropologists, literary scholars, linguists and the general public.

Note: This course, and its syllabus, owe an immeasurable debt to the late D. L. Ashliman and to John Lyon, both of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Single Most F.A.Q.:  So. . .what counts as a Folk Tale?

Answer: That depends on whom you’re talking to.

One of the authors we’re learning about in the class, Vladimir Propp, has a very narrow definition.  He counts only the traditionally preserved coming-of-age stories where the hero/heroine leaves home to seek his/her fortune, is helped  by magical beings, successfully quests for a magical object and returns home with a new spouse.  (“The Firebird” or “The Flying Ship” or “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” are good examples of this.)  The cool thing about a Proppian tale is that it follows an easily plottable scheme or template – which is also nicely compatible with Joseph Campbell’s template for the Hero-Journey.

Other authors we’ll be reading, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, are also interested in narrowing down the field – which tales do we “allow in” to our material for study? – but may or may not draw the same categorical boundaries as Propp does.

Still other authors, such as D. L. Ashliman (the author of our anthology, Voices from the Past) would like to broaden the definition of what constitutes a folktale.  Ashliman, for instance, includes:

•    the above stories (Proppian tales / mini-hero-journeys)

•    other traditional tales – animal tales; legends associated with a specific place (such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Lorelei); funny stories of quarreling couples; trickster tales; tall tales; mythological stories; ghost stories; tales of folk heroes (such as Wilhelm Tell or Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill); shaggy-dog stories; miracles of saints; workplace folklore; among other things. . .

•    illustrative stories from antiquity, such as the fables of Æsop (The Tortoise and the Hare, Androcles and the Lion) or the parables of Jesus (The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan)

•    as well as non-traditional stories composed by known authors from the last few centuries, deliberately constructed using a traditional-tale style or one similar to it – authors such as Ludwig Tieck, E. T. A. Hoffmann, H. C. Andersen, George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Karen Blixen, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, Angela Carter, Maurice Sendak, Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, Ellen Kushner, Charles deLint, Gail Carson Levine, Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, Neil Gaiman and many others.

We’ll touch a little bit on most of the above types of tales.

We’ll stick mostly to prose (and retellings of prose narratives, including film).  Many of these tales have been retold in poetry (ballads or epics), or in prose narratives that are too lengthy to be called tales (such as Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur) but we won’t visit these forms as much.

TEXTS: Books at the Co-Op ; Packet at IT Copy on MLK (west of Guadalupe, north side):    

1. COURSE PACKET at IT Copy.  It’s advisable to phone them first (476-6662) to tell them you’re coming – it gives them a chance to make a new copy for you off the master if they don’t currently have enough on the shelf.  Buy it ASAP! The Packet includes lots of independent readings plus the main text for the course, D. L. Ashliman’s Voices from the Past anthology, which is out of print; we have permission to reprint it. (VfP in the schedule below)

2. Tatar, Maria (ed.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.   ISBN 03939 72771   

3. Opie, Iona & Peter (eds.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.  ISBN 01952 02198     

GRADING

Attendance, Participation, Quizzes+              10 %

Tests [2 in-class examinations,* 30% each]   60%

Final Exam* [Comprehensive]                    30%

*Tests and Exam will consist of true-false, multiple-choice, short fill-ins, picture identifications, and short essays.

+You may make up a missed quiz/missed attendance TWICE (but no more) during the course of the semester by submitting a Film Report of a fairy-tale-based NON-DISNEY movie [like: Ever After (1998); Legend  (1985); Ella Enchanted  (2004); The Slipper and the Rose (1976); In the Company of Wolves (1984); Jack the Giant Killer (1962); Beauty and the Beast  (Cocteau, 1946) and many others.]

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Grading Policy:

Exams 50%.

Homework 30%.

Class Participation 20%.

Texts:

O'Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intrmediate Norwegian. (textbook). O?Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intermediate Norwegian (arbeidsbok).

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:

A survey of the sources and main features of Germanic religion and of the transition from paganism to Christianity in northern Europe and the Germanic territories of western Europe: Anglo-Saxon Great Britain, the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland and Austria--diachronically, from the statements of Caesar and Tacitus about Germanic religion to the last pre-Christian documents in the continental area (Merseburg charms, early runic inscriptions, etc.) and in England (Beowulf) as well as the Scandinavian texts of the Eddas and sagas.  Course coverage may include: cosmogonic myths, the origin of man (in Tacitus and the Eddas) and of society (in the Rigsthula), the concept of the soul (fylgja, etc.), the great gods and goddesses and their mythology (Odin, Thor, Tyr, Njord, Freyr, Freyja, Heimdall, Loki, Balder, etc.), and the organization of worship (temples, sacrifices, etc.).  Attention will also be devoted to the survival of Germanic myth in epic/legendary literature (Sigurd/Siegfried, Hervor, Starkad, etc.), and realistic sagas (“magic” in Egils saga, Eiríks saga raudha, Gísla saga, etc.), as well as to information about pagan worship in Christian writings (lives of the saints, Adam of Bremen, etc.).  The background and expansion of Germanic worship and belief will also be examined (Indo-European heritage, correspondences with Celtic, Slavic and Finno-Ugric traditions, Arab sources, and the Thor-cult of Vikings in the diaspora [Normandy, Eastern Europe, etc.]).

TEXTS:

The Poetic Edda, tr. Carolyne Larrington.  Oxford University Press, 1996. 

The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, tr. Jesse Byock.  Penguin Books, 2005. 

The Saga of the Volsungs, tr. Jesse L. Byock.  University of California Press, 1990. 

Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs, by John Lindow.  Oxford University Press USA, 2002.

Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, by Thomas A. DuBois.  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. 

GRADING:

Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):     10 %

Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each =     30 %

In-class peer review activities on these papers:             10 %

Three one-page film reports, 5 % each =                 15 %

One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4):         15 %

One six-page research paper:                         20 %

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Course Description:   

Folktales recur in retellings across national borders and time periods in Europe and beyond, from prehistory and antiquity through today’s popular culture; it can be argued that “the ability to tell a story” is one of the hallmarks of the human species.  This class will focus mostly on collected folktales, but also on their literary retellings and adaptations, in printable story form (mostly prose, but occasionally in song) as well as in film and illustration.   

We will examine both a wide selection of collected Indo-European folktales as well as numerous perspectives for understanding, interpreting and applying these tales.  We will look at the aesthetic, ethical, social, historical and psychological values that (it can be argued that) the tales reflect in themselves.  In addition, we will read and discuss significant theoretical and methodological paradigms applicable to the folktales under study, including such perspectives as formalist / structuralist (Aarne & Thompson, Propp), nationalist / aesthetic (Grimm, Lang, Tolkien), mythic / archetypal (Jung, Campbell, Tolkien, Bly, Pinkola-Estés), socio-historical (Darnton, Warner, Rowe, Zipes, Tatar, Shavit), psychoanalytical / therapeutic (Bettelheim, Pinkola-Estés, Haase), and feminist / gender studies approaches (Warner, Gilbert & Gubar, Rowe, Pinkola-Estés, Bly).  Throughout the course, we will be simultaneously exploring the enduring presence of folktale-derived narrative in current popular and high culture.  (NOTE: If, at any time during this course, you “recognize”  a story that you are more familiar with from a different, or more modern venue, tell us!  This is a fun bonus.)   

Upon completion of this course, the student should be familiar with a variety of Indo-European folktales, be able to discuss several approaches to studying them, be able to identify the most important motifs of these tales, be familiar with some of the most influential folklorists, writers and editors of the tales, and be able to assess the significance of folktales for contemporary Western culture.   

The class presupposes no prior work in folklore or the folktale; it is intended to introduce students to a fascinating, multicultural set of texts, and to ask questions about folk culture, oral tradition, and story-telling that continue to interest anthropologists, literary scholars, linguists and the general public.

Note: This course, and its syllabus, owe an immeasurable debt to the late D. L. Ashliman and to John Lyon, both of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Single Most F.A.Q.:  So. . .what counts as a Folk Tale?

Answer: That depends on whom you’re talking to.

One of the authors we’re learning about in the class, Vladimir Propp, has a very narrow definition.  He counts only the traditionally preserved coming-of-age stories where the hero/heroine leaves home to seek his/her fortune, is helped  by magical beings, successfully quests for a magical object and returns home with a new spouse.  (“The Firebird” or “The Flying Ship” or “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” are good examples of this.)  The cool thing about a Proppian tale is that it follows an easily plottable scheme or template – which is also nicely compatible with Joseph Campbell’s template for the Hero-Journey.

Other authors we’ll be reading, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, are also interested in narrowing down the field – which tales do we “allow in” to our material for study? – but may or may not draw the same categorical boundaries as Propp does.

Still other authors, such as D. L. Ashliman (the author of our anthology, Voices from the Past) would like to broaden the definition of what constitutes a folktale.  Ashliman, for instance, includes:

•    the above stories (Proppian tales / mini-hero-journeys)

•    other traditional tales – animal tales; legends associated with a specific place (such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Lorelei); funny stories of quarreling couples; trickster tales; tall tales; mythological stories; ghost stories; tales of folk heroes (such as Wilhelm Tell or Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill); shaggy-dog stories; miracles of saints; workplace folklore; among other things. . .

•    illustrative stories from antiquity, such as the fables of Æsop (The Tortoise and the Hare, Androcles and the Lion) or the parables of Jesus (The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan)

•    as well as non-traditional stories composed by known authors from the last few centuries, deliberately constructed using a traditional-tale style or one similar to it – authors such as Ludwig Tieck, E. T. A. Hoffmann, H. C. Andersen, George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Karen Blixen, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, Angela Carter, Maurice Sendak, Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, Ellen Kushner, Charles deLint, Gail Carson Levine, Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, Neil Gaiman and many others.

We’ll touch a little bit on most of the above types of tales.

We’ll stick mostly to prose (and retellings of prose narratives, including film).  Many of these tales have been retold in poetry (ballads or epics), or in prose narratives that are too lengthy to be called tales (such as Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur) but we won’t visit these forms as much.

TEXTS: Books at the Co-Op ; Packet at IT Copy on MLK (west of Guadalupe, north side):    

1. COURSE PACKET at IT Copy.  It’s advisable to phone them first (476-6662) to tell them you’re coming – it gives them a chance to make a new copy for you off the master if they don’t currently have enough on the shelf.  Buy it ASAP! The Packet includes lots of independent readings plus the main text for the course, D. L. Ashliman’s Voices from the Past anthology, which is out of print; we have permission to reprint it. (VfP in the schedule below)

2. Tatar, Maria (ed.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.   ISBN 03939 72771   

3. Opie, Iona & Peter (eds.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.  ISBN 01952 02198     

GRADING

Attendance, Participation, Quizzes+              10 %

Tests [2 in-class examinations,* 30% each]   60%

Final Exam* [Comprehensive]                    30%

*Tests and Exam will consist of true-false, multiple-choice, short fill-ins, picture identifications, and short essays.

+You may make up a missed quiz/missed attendance TWICE (but no more) during the course of the semester by submitting a Film Report of a fairy-tale-based NON-DISNEY movie [like: Ever After (1998); Legend  (1985); Ella Enchanted  (2004); The Slipper and the Rose (1976); In the Company of Wolves (1984); Jack the Giant Killer (1962); Beauty and the Beast  (Cocteau, 1946) and many others.]

Course Description:

Third and fourth semester Norwegian in which the students read copiously from a variety of texts, solidify their knowledge of Norwegian grammar and discuss the readings in Norwegian. The reading materials present a broad cross-section of Norwegian culture both past and present. Writing in Norwegian is also stressed.

Grading Policy:

Exams 50%.

Homework 30%.

Class Participation 20%.

Texts:

O'Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intrmediate Norwegian. (textbook). O?Leary and Shackelford. Norsk i sammenheng: Intermediate Norwegian (arbeidsbok).

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:

The life and writings of Saint Birgitta of Sweden, fourteenth-century visionary, religious reformer and pilgrim, will be examined and compared with her predecessor Hildegard of Bingen (Germany) and her successor Margery Kempe (England).  Social and historical contexts for all three visionary women will be explored in depth, particularly the factors behind Birgitta’s emerging as such an authoritative voice, both political and religious, within the milieu of fourteenth-century Europe.  Other related figures, predominantly Julian of Norwich, but also Christina of Markyate, Christina Mirabilis, Angela de Foligno, Jeanne d’Arc and Catherine of Siena may be visited.  We will also explore varieties of spirituality and spiritual thinking including: anchorism and asceticism; Marian piety and Goddess-imagery; virginity and female creativity; and  bridal imagery.  Any theoretical framework – religious; scientific; theological; medical; archetypal; or any other – will be allowed.  No single orthodoxy or heterodoxy should become primary in our investigations: all may have a voice (and it need not be a consistent one).  We will try to allow the past to speak for itself, always realizing that we, the readers/listeners/watchers, will necessarily apply some kind of “spin” based on our own backgrounds. 

Two things to remember when you investigate the lives and thought of people of the past: 1. They were vastly different from us; and 2) They were uncannily like us.  Both 1) and 2) are entirely true.

BOOKS and PACKET:

Birgitta of Sweden: Life and Selected Revelations, ed. Marguerite Tjader Harris.  Paulist Press, 1990.

ISBN 0809131390

St. Bride and Her Book, ed. & tr. Julia Bolton Holloway.  Boydell & Brewer, 2000.

             ISBN 08599 15891

The Book of Margery Kempe, ed. & tr. B. A. Windeatt.  Penguin, 1994.

             ISBN 01404 32515

Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine, by Barbara

             Newman.  University of California Press, 1987.              ISBN 05202 11626

Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich, ed. & tr. by Elizabeth Spearing

             and A. C. Spearing.  Penguin, 1998.                        ISBN 01404 46737 

COURSE PACKET from IT Copy on MLK Blvd. 

GRADING:

This course is a Writing Flag course, and most of your grade will come from the evaluation of writing-related activities.

The breakdown is like this:

Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):    10 %

Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each =   30 %

In-class peer review activities on these papers:    10 %

Reading Journals (turned in every other Wednesday)    15 %

One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4):    15 %

One six-page research paper:      20 %

NO FINAL

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Course Description:
    Folktales recur in retellings across national borders and time periods in Europe and beyond, from prehistory and antiquity through today’s popular culture; it can be argued that “the ability to tell a story” is one of the hallmarks of the human species.  This class will focus mostly on collected folktales, but also on their literary retellings and adaptations, in printable story form (mostly prose, but occasionally in song) as well as in film and illustration.
    We will examine both a wide selection of collected Indo-European folktales as well as numerous perspectives for understanding, interpreting and applying these tales.  We will look at the aesthetic, ethical, social, historical and psychological values that (it can be argued that) the tales reflect in themselves.  In addition, we will read and discuss significant theoretical and methodological paradigms applicable to the folktales under study, including such perspectives as formalist / structuralist (Aarne & Thompson, Propp), nationalist / aesthetic (Grimm, Lang, Tolkien), mythic / archetypal (Jung, Campbell, Tolkien, Bly, Pinkola-Estés), socio-historical (Darnton, Warner, Rowe, Zipes, Tatar, Shavit), psychoanalytical / therapeutic (Bettelheim, Pinkola-Estés, Haase), and feminist / gender studies approaches (Warner, Gilbert & Gubar, Rowe, Pinkola-Estés, Bly).  Throughout the course, we will be simultaneously exploring the enduring presence of folktale-derived narrative in current popular and high culture.  (NOTE: If, at any time during this course, you “recognize”  a story that you are more familiar with from a different, or more modern venue, tell us!  This is a fun bonus.)
    Upon completion of this course, the student should be familiar with a variety of Indo-European folktales, be able to discuss several approaches to studying them, be able to identify the most important motifs of these tales, be familiar with some of the most influential folklorists, writers and editors of the tales, and be able to assess the significance of folktales for contemporary Western culture.
    The class presupposes no prior work in folklore or the folktale; it is intended to introduce students to a fascinating, multicultural set of texts, and to ask questions about folk culture, oral tradition, and story-telling that continue to interest anthropologists, literary scholars, linguists and the general public.

Note: This course, and its syllabus, owe an immeasurable debt to the late D. L. Ashliman and to John Lyon, both of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Single Most F.A.Q.:  So. . .what counts as a Folk Tale?

Answer: That depends on whom you’re talking to.

One of the authors we’re learning about in the class, Vladimir Propp, has a very narrow definition.  He counts only the traditionally preserved coming-of-age stories where the hero/heroine leaves home to seek his/her fortune, is helped  by magical beings, successfully quests for a magical object and returns home with a new spouse.  (“The Firebird” or “The Flying Ship” or “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” are good examples of this.)  The cool thing about a Proppian tale is that it follows an easily plottable scheme or template – which is also nicely compatible with Joseph Campbell’s template for the Hero-Journey.

Other authors we’ll be reading, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, are also interested in narrowing down the field – which tales do we “allow in” to our material for study? – but may or may not draw the same categorical boundaries as Propp does.

Still other authors, such as D. L. Ashliman (the author of our anthology, Voices from the Past) would like to broaden the definition of what constitutes a folktale.  Ashliman, for instance, includes:

•    the above stories (Proppian tales / mini-hero-journeys)
•    other traditional tales – animal tales; legends associated with a specific place (such as the Loch Ness Monster or the Lorelei); funny stories of quarreling couples; trickster tales; tall tales; mythological stories; ghost stories; tales of folk heroes (such as Wilhelm Tell or Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill); shaggy-dog stories; miracles of saints; workplace folklore; among other things. . .
•    illustrative stories from antiquity, such as the fables of Æsop (The Tortoise and the Hare, Androcles and the Lion) or the parables of Jesus (The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan)
•    as well as non-traditional stories composed by known authors from the last few centuries, deliberately constructed using a traditional-tale style or one similar to it – authors such as Ludwig Tieck, E. T. A. Hoffmann, H. C. Andersen, George MacDonald, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Karen Blixen, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, Angela Carter, Maurice Sendak, Jane Yolen, Tanith Lee, Ellen Kushner, Charles deLint, Gail Carson Levine, Diana Wynne Jones, J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, Neil Gaiman and many others.
We’ll touch a little bit on most of the above types of tales.
We’ll stick mostly to prose (and retellings of prose narratives, including film).  Many of these tales have been retold in poetry (ballads or epics), or in prose narratives that are too lengthy to be called tales (such as Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur) but we won’t visit these forms as much.

TEXTS: Books at the Co-Op ; Packet at IT Copy on MLK (west of Guadalupe, north side):    
1. COURSE PACKET at IT Copy.  It’s advisable to phone them first (476-6662) to tell them you’re coming – it gives them a chance to make a new copy for you off the master if they don’t currently have enough on the shelf.  Buy it ASAP!
 The Packet includes lots of independent readings plus the main text for the course, D. L. Ashliman’s Voices from the Past anthology, which is out of print; we have permission to reprint it. (VfP in the schedule below)
2. Tatar, Maria (ed.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.   ISBN 03939 72771
    This is usually easy to get from the Co-Op.
3. Opie, Iona & Peter (eds.).  The Classic Fairy Tales.  ISBN 01952 02198
    Sometimes the Co-Op doesn’t order enough of this one. 
There are also earlier editions around – feel free to comb Half Price Books for them – but the pagination is just a little different.  Many students have used these earlier editions without difficulty, though.
NOTE: Feel free to order from Barnes & Noble or Amazon online if the Co-Op doesn’t deliver enough copies immediately.  Don’t wait for them!  We need all three books almost immediately; sad experience teaches me that any way you can get these books quickly (short of theft) is a good way.  Good luck!
SECOND NOTE: I regret that we won’t be reading every chapter in these two books – there simply aren’t enough class days in the semester.  If you find you like the topic, I encourage you to spend some extra time reading the additional stories and theory pieces in both books – now, or this summer.

GRADING:

Attendance, Participation, Quizzes+            10 %
Tests [2 in-class examinations,* 30% each]        60%
Final Exam* [Comprehensive]            30%

*Tests and Exam will consist of true-false, multiple-choice, short fill-ins, picture identifications, and short essays.
+You may make up a missed quiz/missed attendance TWICE (but no more) during the course of the semester by submitting a Film Report of a fairy-tale-based NON-DISNEY movie [like: Ever After (1998); Legend  (1985); Ella Enchanted  (2004); The Slipper and the Rose (1976); In the Company of Wolves (1984); Jack the Giant Killer (1962); Beauty and the Beast  (Cocteau, 1946) and many others.]

Description:

We will trace the development of German thought and literature from 800 to 1450, with particular emphasis on the time period between 1150 and 1230. We will read selected works in German and Latin (for which translations will be provided) against the backdrop of the intellectual, political, and cultural history of the Middle Ages.  Although it is essential to read the texts in their entirety, we will often focus on particularly significant passages in class.  These texts will be supplemented by examples from music, the visual arts, and codicology (notably the manuscripts available at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center) pertaining to the time period.

Texts likely to be studied include: Hildebrandslied; Heliand; Muspilli; the Merseburg and Lorsch charms, plus other similar examples; Dulcitius or Sapientia by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim; Hildegard von Bingen (Scivias, Causae et curae, Symphonia); Pfaffe Konrad’s Rolandslied; Spielmannsepen (e.g., König Rother, Salman und Morolf); Minnesang (Namenlose Lieder, Der von Kürenberc, Heinrich von Veldeke, Friderîch von Hausen, Heinrich vin Morungen, Dietmar von Aist, Hartmann von Aue, Reinmar von Hagenau [Reinmar der Alte], Bernger von Horheim, Walter von der Vogelweide, Gottfried von Strassburg, Neidhart von Reuental, Uolrîch von Liehtenstein,  Der wilde Alexander); Herrad von Landsberg’s Hortus deliciarum; Hartmann’s Erec, Iwein, Gregorius, Der arme Heinrich; Nibelungenlied; Gottfried’s Tristan; the Carmina burana song manuscript; Uolrîch von Liehtenstein’s Vrouwenbuoch; Mechthild von Magdeburg; Konrad von Würzburg’s Herzmaere; Gertrud of Helfta; Meister Eckehart; Codex Manesse; Daz buoch von guoter spîse; Johannes von Tepl’s Der Ackermann aus Böhmen; Oswald von Wolkenstein (e.g., “Es fuegt sich,” “Durch Barbarei, Arabia,” “Es seusst dort her von orient”); Nikolaus von Cues; Der Antichrist; Hans Folz’s Bauernheirat; the Locheimer Liederbuch (“Wolflein von Lochamer ist das gesenngk puch”) and other secular song texts of the 15^th century; song texts set by Heinrich Isaac, Stefan Mahu and Ludwig Senfl; Reynke de Vos (Lübeck, 1498).

(See attached Topics of Study list for further text options.)

TEXTS:

Joachim Bumke, Höfische Kultur.

Max Wehrli, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im Mittelalter.  Von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts.  Third, bibliographically augmented edition.

ADDITIONAL READING LIST, to be supplemented as we go:

Kurt Ruh et al, eds., Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters.  Verfasserlexikon.  Second edition.

Lexikon des Mittelalters. D 101.5 L49 in PCL; also electronic.

Dieter Kartschoke, Joachim Bumke and Thomas Cramer, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im Mittelalter. 3 volumes.

Günther Schweikle, Minnesang.  Second edition.

Christoph Cormeau and Wilhelm Störmer, Hartmann von Aue.  Epoche – Werk – Wirkung.  Second edition.

Joachim Bumke, Wolfram von Eschenbach.   Sixth edition.

GRADING:

Quizzes, Attendance, Participation, short reports               33 1/3%

Research Projects (minimum 3 per student) & related (long) class reports  33 1/3 %

3 Papers, minimum 8 pages, expanding on the above 33 1/3%

Writing Flag course (formerly SWC)

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:
A survey of the sources and main features of Germanic religion and of the transition from paganism to Christianity in northern Europe and the Germanic territories of western Europe: Anglo-Saxon Great Britain, the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland and Austria--diachronically, from the statements of Caesar and Tacitus about Germanic religion to the last pre-Christian documents in the continental area (Merseburg charms, early runic inscriptions, etc.) and in England (Beowulf) as well as the Scandinavian texts of the Eddas and sagas.  Course coverage may include: cosmogonic myths, the origin of man (in Tacitus and the Eddas) and of society (in the Rigsthula), the concept of the soul (fylgja, etc.), the great gods and goddesses and their mythology (Odin, Thor, Tyr, Njord, Freyr, Freyja, Heimdall, Loki, Balder, etc.), and the organization of worship (temples, sacrifices, etc.).  Attention will also be devoted to the survival of Germanic myth in epic/legendary literature (Sigurd/Siegfried, Hervor, Starkad, etc.), and realistic sagas (“magic” in Egils saga, Eiríks saga raudha, Gísla saga, etc.), as well as to information about pagan worship in Christian writings (lives of the saints, Adam of Bremen, etc.).  The background and expansion of Germanic worship and belief will also be examined (Indo-European heritage, correspondences with Celtic, Slavic and Finno-Ugric traditions, Arab sources, and the Thor-cult of Vikings in the diaspora [Normandy, Eastern Europe, etc.]).

TEXTS:
The Poetic Edda, tr. Carolyne Larrington.  Oxford University Press, 1996. 
The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, tr. Jesse Byock.  Penguin Books, 2005. 
The Saga of the Volsungs, tr. Jesse L. Byock.  University of California Press, 1990. 
Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs, by John Lindow.  Oxford University Press USA, 2002.
Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, by Thomas A. DuBois.  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. 

GRADING:
Quizzes on Reading (on most days when readings are due):     10 %
Two six-page reaction papers or position papers, 15% each =     30 %
In-class peer review activities on these papers:             10 %
Three one-page film reports, 5 % each =                 15 %
One three- to five-page group project (groups of 3-4):         15 %
One six-page research paper:                         20 %

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

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Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

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Please see advisor for more information.

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Please check back with updates.

Description:

NOR 604 incorporates in one semester all the material from an ordinary first-year two- semester course. The material is not difficult, but there is a lot of it; the student is advised not to forget that this is a 6-hour class and to budget study time accordingly. On the positive side, though, Norwegian is fun; it is a very close cousin to English, both in grammar and vocabulary; and we will not only experience the language by practicing the usual modalities (speaking, reading, writing, oral comprehension), but also through films and videos, songs, advertisements, news clips, sports culture, outdoor culture, literature and history.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

This one semester course will examine the development of warfare between the last Roman Empire and the early modern world (c. 400-1500). It will concentrate on the lands around the Mediterranean including northern and eastern Europe. Students will become acquainted with developments in warfare over the course of more than a millenium through the use of lectures and discussions, readings, photographs, and video. Among other things this course will examine the following topics: the collapse of the Roman military the advent of feudalism the rise of cavalry and its disputed connection to feudalism infantry in medieval warfare the birth of knighthood and chivalry evolving Christian and Muslim views of Just War the Crusades and Crusading orders (such as Knights Templar) the medieval castle and the race between fortifiers and attackers medieval arms and armor the influence of improved missile weapons on medieval warfare the gunpowder revolution of the later Middle Ages.

Required Reading/Viewing:

Books:

Charles W. C. Oman, The Art of War in the Middle Ages

Edward M. Peters, The First Crusade: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other

Source Materials

In addition to the two books assigned in this course, a number of articles will be posted on the

website.

Visual Materials (most or all of the following will be shown in class):

The Roman Legion (DVD)

The Barbarians/Visigoths (DVD)

The Barbarians/Huns (DVD)

The Barbarians/Vikings (DVD)

Modern Marvels: Castle and Dungeons (DVD)

NOVA/Ancient Empires: The Trebuchet (DVD)

The Bayeux Tapestry (CD)

The Crusades (as seen by Terry Jones) (3 of the 4 DVDs in the series)

Knights Templar (DVD)

The Barbarians/Mongols (DVD)

Grading

A course paper on some aspect of medieval war ( approximately 10 pages). Along with the paper, each student should submit photocopied source materials used in preparation of his/her paper. 33.3% of final grade

An in-class examination during a regular class period based on the lectures and readings, 33.3% of final grade

A final examination during the regularly scheduled final exam period. 33.3% of final grade

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