Summer 2016

R&C Courses | Courses in English 

READING AND COMPOSITION COURSES

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 1: Session A (May 23-July 1, 2016): The Nordic Child: Children and Adolescents in Scandinavian Literature

MTuW 2-4:30, 206 Dwinelle. Instructor: Ida Johnson

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

CCN: 52302

Who is the child, and what makes him or her special? How are children understood in a Scandinavian context? What role do children play in literature? This course addresses these and other questions as we study texts both for and about children. The child has a privileged status in Scandinavian societies, and is widely viewed as an autonomous and capable being. Child and adolescent characters in Scandinavian literature are often depicted as simultaneously vulnerable and competent in the face of difficult challenges. We will examine what these figures can teach us about the worlds of children and adults, in literature and in life.

Required texts:
The Wild Duck, Henrik Ibsen
The Ice Palace, Tarjei Vesaas (ISBN-10: 0720613299)
The Brothers Lionhaert, Astrid Lindgren (ISBN-10: 0192729047)
Naïve. Super, Erland Loe (ISBN-10: 1841956724)

 Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading & Composition requirement or its equivalent. Students may not enroll in nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 101: Session C (June 20-August 12, 2016): The Machiavellian Narrative

TuWTh 3-5, 285 Cory. Instructor: Monica Hidalgo

Units: 4

CCN: 52304

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the forms and mechanics of academic writing. As a guiding theme, we will read, analyze, and respond to short stories and novels that toy with our desire to understand characters’ true motivations—these are known as Machiavellian narratives, named after the Italian political theorist notorious for advocating trickery, subterfuge, and fear-mongering as effective methods of rule.

The power of Machiavellian narratives will be explored through Scandinavian texts, including Victoria Benedictsson’s “From the Darkness,” St. St. Blicher’s “Tardy Awakening,” Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glas, and Pär Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf. While we may not be accustomed to thinking too much about a story’s narrator as a character, Machiavellian narratives raise the question of how much we can trust a story’s narrator. How do we know what the narrator tells us is true? Does the narrator have an interest in telling us certain things but not others about the characters in the novel? What does the narrator think of the reader listening to his or her tale? By raising these questions, students will become more adept at identifying manipulative narratorial moves, discerning and analyzing the power constellations governing fiction, and, most importantly, developing the analytical skills necessary to becoming successful academic writers.

 Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

 Required Texts:

Hamsun, Knut. Hunger. Translated by Robert Bly. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0374525286

Lagerkvist, Pär. The Dwarf. Translated by Alexandra Dick. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958. ISBN-13: 978-0374521356

Söderberg, Hjalmar. Dr. Glas. Translated by Paul Bitten Austin. Anchor, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0385722674

*Additional readings will be made available in a course reader or bCourses.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 102: Session D (July 5 – August 12, 2016): The Machiavellian Narrative

TuWTh 12-2:30, 2038 VLSB. Instructor: Monica Hidalgo

Units: 4

CCN: 52306

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the forms and mechanics of academic writing. As a guiding theme, we will read, analyze, and respond to short stories and novels that toy with our desire to understand characters’ true motivations—these are known as Machiavellian narratives, named after the Italian political theorist notorious for advocating trickery, subterfuge, and fear-mongering as effective methods of rule.

The power of Machiavellian narratives will be explored through Scandinavian texts, including Victoria Benedictsson’s “From the Darkness,” St. St. Blicher’s “Tardy Awakening,” Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glas, and Pär Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf. While we may not be accustomed to thinking too much about a story’s narrator as a character, Machiavellian narratives raise the question of how much we can trust a story’s narrator. How do we know what the narrator tells us is true? Does the narrator have an interest in telling us certain things but not others about the characters in the novel? What does the narrator think of the reader listening to his or her tale? By raising these questions, students will become more adept at identifying manipulative narratorial moves, discerning and analyzing the power constellations governing fiction, and, most importantly, developing the analytical skills necessary to becoming successful academic writers.

 Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

Required Texts:

Hamsun, Knut. Hunger. Translated by Robert Bly. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0374525286

Lagerkvist, Pär. The Dwarf. Translated by Alexandra Dick. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958. ISBN-13: 978-0374521356

Söderberg, Hjalmar. Dr. Glas. Translated by Paul Bitten Austin. Anchor, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0385722674

*Additional readings will be made available in a course reader or bCourses.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT IN ENGLISH

SCANDINAVIAN 160: Session A (May 23-July 1, 2016): Scandinavian Myth and Religion

TuWTh 1-3:30, 243 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jackson Crawford

Units: 4

L&S Breadth: Philosophy & Values OR Arts & Literature
CCN: 52308

This course provides an overview and discussion of the major gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, narratives and adventures which make up the lore collectively referred to as Scandinavian, or Norse, myth. This lore is chiefly preserved in two collections traditionally called the Poetic (or Elder) Edda and the Prose (or Younger) Edda, together with some mythical sagas. The course considers not only the myths themselves, but how we know what we know about the myths of medieval Scandinavia and nearby lands, and what we can learn about the culture of pre-Christian Scandinavia from the myths their Christian descendants left us. This course will also take a summary look at what we know about cognate traditions elsewhere in Northern Europe, especially England and Germany. Students will finish the course with a comprehensive knowledge of pre-Christian Scandinavia’s mythology and religion, grounded in an understanding of the value of the primary sources as well as the directions of current research by scholars in the field.

Texts:
Snorri Sturluson, Edda. Trans. Anthony Faulkes (a vol. in the series Everyman Library). J.M. Dent, 1987 (or later) ISBN 978-0-460-87612-2.

The Poetic Edda. Trans. Jackson Crawford. Hackett Classics, 2015. ISBN 978-1-624-66356-7.

John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford Univ. Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-19-515382-8.

Prerequisites: None. Taught in English with readings in English