Summer 2017

TuWTh 1-3:30, 206 Dwinelle. Instructor: Ida Moen 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 first half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The child has a privileged status in Scandinavian societies, and is widely viewed as an autonomous and capable being. Scandinavian literature about children often brings out the tension between the child’s competence and vulnerability. For example, the Swedish character Pippi Longstocking lives by herself and can lift a horse above her head, but she breaks down in tears when she is told that she isn’t polite and is reminded that she doesn’t have a family. What do we imagine the child is capable of, and from what must he or she be protected? Do adults underestimate children? What, if anything, is the difference between children and adults? This course will examine these and other questions as we problematize the categories of ‘child’ and ‘adult,’ in literature and in life.

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

TuWTh 12-2, 254 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jenna Coughlin

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 first half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

This course will look at the tree in Scandinavian literature from its role in Old Norse creation mythology and cosmology to contemporary examinations of the materiality of the book, such as the “Future Library” project, in which books written by prominent authors will be printed on 1,000 trees harvested from Oslo’s Nordmarka in 2114. Along the way, we will examine how literature represents the ways in which humans relate to trees as metaphors, symbols, resources, and historical markers. Texts to be read include parts of the Poetic and Prose Eddas, relevant folktales, poetry by a variety of Scandinavian poets including Hans Børli, Tomas Tranströmer and Inger Christensen, Kerstin Ekman’s crime novel Blackwater, and Erlend Loe’s satire Doppler, as well as presentations of artists and writers whose work considers the relationship between forests, paper, and text. This course will provide students ample room to explore the topic from a variety of angles, and they should be able to find a wide variety of materials to support their research. In addition, the topic provides opportunities for exercises outside the classroom that take advantage of the variety of plant life on the Berkeley campus.

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

TuWTh 1-3:30, 250 Dwinelle. Instructor: TBA

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 first half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Migration and travel have fundamentally shaped human history from its very beginnings. Whether forced or voluntary, human mobility across the globe has led to some definitive, transformative ruptures in history, from the Indo-Aryan migration from the Indus Valley, the expansion of the Mongols, invasions of the Roman Empire, the displacement of Africans in the Atlantic slave trade, and the recent forced relocation of thousands of Syrian refugees. The age of the Vikings, perhaps the most popularized moment of migration from Scandinavia, shares this long history of human mobility and cross-cultural exchanges.

This course will introduce students to the ways in which scholars ask questions, read and evaluate sources, and construct arguments. Acquiring training in textual analysis and argumentative writing, students will study the movement of people during the Viking Age, from trading and pilgrimage, to raiding and settlement. The course will explore a range of interdisciplinary approaches to history, including historical and literary sources, archaeological evidence, and scientific techniques, and will demonstrate how such evidence can be applied in academic papers. Through discussion of the motivations for travel and migration, our aim is to develop persuasive writing and to think critically about historical studies and their practical applications in our world today.

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

TuWTh 1-3:30, 6415 Dwinelle Hall. Instructor: TBA

Units: 4

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

Effective Thursday, July 13: This course now meets in 6415 Dwinelle Hall, Scandinavia Department seminar room.

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.