Future Course Offerings
Fall 2009
Scandinavian 222: Nordic Mythology and Medieval CultureInstructor: Merrill Kaplan
T R 9:30 am-11:18 pm
# 21677
What do we know about Thor and Odin, and how do we know it? This course examines the myths of the Old Norse gods and the sources in which those myths are recorded. Students will gain insight into the world view and beliefs of the pagan North by reading (in English translation) the most important textual sources on Scandinavia's pre-Christian mythology. Students intrigued by the Viking Age, medieval Northern Europe, or the interpretation of myth will find much of interest. GEC course.
Arabic 241H: Culture of the Contemporary Arab World
Instructor: Sabra J. Webber
R 4:30-6:18 pm, 6:30-7:18 pm
# 26102
A general survey and examination of the socio-cultural structure of the modern Arab world. Available to students enrolled in an honors program or by permission of department or instructor. Taught in English.
The course consists of an analytical study of the cultural traits and patterns of contemporary Arab society based on scholarly research, recent field work, and personal experiences and observations in the Arab world. It examines the development of its language and dialects, beliefs, customs, and traditions within the framework of: a dynamically changing society; major ecological structures; the family and its value system; representative social, political and religious institutions; reform and challenges of modernization; trends in literature (with emphasis on the emotional and psychological dimensions of cultural traits and change), education, communications media, arts, and music. The course provides a rich and meaningful educational experience for the expansion of analytic skills, cultivation of aesthetic judgment, and development of insights into another culture, as well as a cultural context for the study of modern colloquial and/or Modern Standard Arabic.
Persian 241: Persian Culture
Instructor: Instructor: Benjamin Gatling
# 18591
T R 1:30-3:18 pm
This course will expose students to the diversity and richness of Persian culture. Because of the importance of religion in Persian culture, students will study in broad outline the distinguishing features of Shi'a Islam as practiced in Iran and they will be introduced to the main tenets of Persian sufism. The impact on Iran of two outside cultures - that of the Arabs and that of the industrialized West - will also be considered. The course will take into account endemic tensions in Persian culture: for example, between indigenous and outside forces, between absolutism and populism, etc. Much of the instruction will be through the examination of literary works, particularly twentieth century literary works; students will also see Iranian films and receive an introduction to Persian music and the Persian tradition of miniature painting.
English 270: Introduction to Folklore
Instructor: Ray Cashman
M W 9:30-11:18 am
# 10640
This class explores forms of traditional, vernacular culture--including verbal art, custom, and material culture--shared by men and women from a number of regional, ethnic, religious, and occupational groups. At the same time, we will consider various interpretive, theoretical approaches to examples of folklore and folklife discussed, and we will investigate the history of folklore studies and the cultural contexts in which this field has flourished. Recurring central issues will include the dynamics of tradition, the nature of creativity and artistic expression, and the construction of personal and group identities.
English 367.05: The US Folk Experience
Instructor: Sheila Bock
M W 11:30-1:18
#10690
In this course, we will use the core concepts and methods of the field of folklore as the basis for reading assignments and writing projects. Because the theme of this course is "The U.S. Folk Experience," we will begin with a brief introduction to basic concepts of American folklore and ethnography, including folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology, focusing on how these concepts and methodologies contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Students will also learn fieldwork techniques and use them in the study of local practices and groups. These practices will provide the "raw data" students will use for ethnographic writing assignments. 367.05 fulfills the GEC "Social Diversity in the US" requirement and the second composition course you need to graduate.
Comparative Studies 542: American Indian Identity
Instructor: Daniel Reff
M W 9:30-11:18 am
# 26554
This course is intended as an introduction to issues of american Indian identity, particularly in the United States. Roughly a third of the class will focus on popular and scholarly representations of american Indians in art, literature, film, and academic texts. The bulk of the class will be spent considering how american Indian authors, artists, and scholars have endeavored to transcend or negate non-Indian images and construct an "indigenous" self. The course is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing particularly from anthropology, history, religious studies, and literature. As noted on the syllabus, we will devote all or part of several class periods to the representation of american Indians in film.
Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation (25%), three in-class word-bank quizzes (25%), and five short essays (50%), approximately 3 pages each.
English 575: Special topics in literary forms and themes: North
Instructor: Merrill Kaplan
T R 1:30-3:18 pm
# 27000
Where is North? This course is about the idea of North in prose, poetry, folklore, and the cultural imagination. Students will spend time with etymologists, ancient geographers, medieval chroniclers, poets from Seamus Heaney to Jose Luis Borges, and heroes from Väinämöinen of the Kalevala to Conan the Barbarian. We will explore the Victorians' romance with the Icelandic sagas and the Icelanders' own view of still more northern peoples. Through close reading of diverse texts we will uncover the story of where North has been and what it has meant.
Comparative Studies 597.02: Global Culture
Instructor: Sabra J. Webber (Columbus Campus) & Katherine Borland (Newark Campus)
T R 12:30-2:18 pm
# 27586
This capstone course for nonmajors addresses issues of the contemporary world through the medium of folklore and the study of folkloristics. Drawing upon examples from around the world (Africa, the Middle East, India, Latin america and the Caribbean, Europe, the South Pacific and so on) we will consider what part of our contemporary culture is "lore" and how traditional cultural resources interact with commercial, mediated and state-generated cultural constructs. We will examine oral, musical, visual and material cultural expressions. We will explore how the types, motifs, and characteristics of folklore find their way into popular literature and film as well as how folklore adapts and shapes the products of commercial mass media. Finally, we will identify the ways in which communities around the world, including those of students in the course, use their folklore as a counter-hegemonic resource to resist or negotiate regional and global powers.
The course will be team taught in two electronically linked classrooms on the Columbus and Newark Campuses & two 3-way videoconferences sessions with students in Egypt.
Written requirements are five 2-3 page reading and film synthesis papers over the course of the quarter.
Chinese 600: Performance Traditions of China
Instructor: Mark Bender
M W 1:30-3:18 pm
# 26024
This course covers tradition-based performance genres in China from a multi-cultural perspective. Traditions to be examined are drawn from many parts of the country and include professional storytelling, epic singing, antiphonal singing, ritual, folk dance, local opera, etc. from cultures such as the Han, Yi, Miao, Yao, Zhuang, Dong, Mongol, Tibetan, and Manchu. Multi-media. Many hands-on activities and projects.
Comparative Studies 677.02: "Folklore, Memory, and History" (Themes in World Folklore)
Instructor: Ray Cashman
M W 1:30 - 3:18 PM
# 7328
This course explores the interrelationships between folklore and history, memory and the past. What can we discover about the past from various surviving forms of popular expressive and material culture (e.g., ballads and vernacular architecture)? At stake is rescuing from oblivion the experiences, values, and worldviews of common people in the past. What can we discover about culture in the present from contemporary vernacular constructions of the past (e.g., commemorative parades and battle reenactments)? At stake is differentiating between history and memory, understanding the appeal of the past in the present, and appreciating how people use the past in the present to envision a future that fits their moral, social, and political agendas. Key concepts will include folklore, identity, tradition, oral history, material culture, commemoration, nostalgia, social or collective memory, and the politics of culture. Using perspectives from folklorists, anthropologists, and historians, we will advance our understanding of culture, past and present, through transdisciplinary dialogue.
Readings will include several shorter texts on Carmen and the following:
Jan Vansina. Oral Tradition as History
Guy Beiner. Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory
Maurice Halbwachs. On Collective Memory
Paul Connerton. How Societies Remember
Keith Basso. Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache
Tony Horwitz. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
Richard Flores. Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol
Assignments include reviews of and presentations on relevant books not on the syllabus, and a final research paper and presentation.
English 872: The Language of Everyday Life
Instructor: Galey Modan
T R 3:30-5:18 pm
# 27015
This class will examine the language that people use to accomplish everyday tasks, both mundane and profound: How do we get off the phone, buy beer, talk to parents with Alzheimer's, write love letters, play with our friends, fight with our loved ones, pull the wool over someone's eyes? What kinds of contextual information is it important for a researcher to bring to analysis, and what kinds of information should a researcher refrain from imposing on participants' experience? With a focus on work from ethnography of communication and conversation analysis, you will learn to analyze the structures, patterns, and sociopolitical implications of the language that constructs daily experience.
For updated folklore course information, see courses page
For information on the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS), see Graduate Curriculum
For Center for Folklore Studies activities and information in general.
If you would like to talk about concentrating in folklore, please make an appointment with Professor Dorothy Noyes, Director, The Center for Folklore Studies
