Transfer Student Research Seminar: Myths and Fables in Popular Culture

Semester and Year	SP 2013
Course Number	FIRST-UG801
Section	001
Instructor	Patricia Lennox
Days	Mon,Wed
Time	11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Notes/Restrictions

Open to Gallatin transfer students only.

Description

Myths, fables, folk tales, and fairy tales are universal. Their heroes, villains, gods and monsters are as old as storytelling and as new as the latest award-winning film. In this class we examine some of these stories and their histories, watching the shifts in emphasis as they are retold and adapted, but also considering why certain mythic figures, such as the vampire, gain greater currency in contemporary tales. Our research focuses on old and new versions of tales, their cultural construction and the critical discourse surrounding them. It serves as the springboard for a series of exercises focused on research methods, several short writing assignments, and a major research paper. Sources include, but are not limited to, selections from works by: J.R.R. Tolkien, Disney, Ovid, Apuleius, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Angela Carter, Bruno Bettelheim, Joseph Campbell, Jack Zipes, and Nina Auerbach.

Syllabus

FIRST-UG801

Course Type

First-Year Program: Transfer Student Research Seminar (FIRST-UG)