R&C Courses | Courses in English
READING AND COMPOSITION COURSES
TuWTh 10-12, Taught online/Zoom. Instructor: Isobel Boles
Units: 4
This class will be taught via synchronous remote instruction. Time conflicts are not allowed for this class.
The sea has always stood colossal in the human imagination—both life-giving and treacherous, at once full of mystery and beauty. This course will focus on depictions of the sea and its denizens (both real and otherwise) throughout the centuries in Nordic literature. We will explore myths of the ocean in Old Norse poetry and prose, as well as instances of sea monsters and oceanic oddities in medieval sagas and later folklore. We will read stories about the figure of the mermaid written by Hans Christian Andersen and Henrik Ibsen, as well as more contemporary imaginings of such creatures. As we look at literary representations of the deep, we will also learn about the historical role of the sea and the creatures that dwell in it in the Nordic region. All texts will be read in English translation.
Students will work on improving their writing style, editing practices, and research techniques in this course. Focus will be placed on becoming comfortable with close reading literary texts, selecting secondary sources, and reading academic articles, with the goal of constructing a research paper based on primary and secondary sources by the end of the course.
Required texts:
They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein (ISBN-13: 978-1469028613)
Course reader and additional materials on bCourses.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement or its equivalent. Students may not enroll in nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.
Instructor pending appointment.
TuWTh 12-2, Taught online/Zoom. Instructor: Rue Taylor
Units: 4
This class will be taught via synchronous remote instruction. Time conflicts are not allowed for this class.
While the vampire is not a traditionally Scandinavian monster, its presence has been felt in Nordic literature since the early 19th century. Initially the vampire’s entry into the North came via direct translations of major Gothic works from Britain and continental Europe, but by mid-century these traditional classics began to take on new life of their own through original works based on classic vampire narratives, but adapted to better suit a Scandinavian audience. In this course, we will read the three foundational vampire texts of Western literature—John Polidori’s “The Vampyre,” Sheridan La Fanu’s “Carmilla” and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We will then look at their respective Nordic adaptations—Viktor Rydberg’s The Vampyre, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In, and Valdimar Ásmundsson’s Powers of Darkness. By reading these adaptations against their originals, we will explore the changes undergone by the vampire upon crossing cultural and temporal boundaries, and how the creature can be read in order to understand social anxieties and issues in the Nordic countries up to the modern day.
The aim of this course is to help students further their skills in reading, analysis and composition, and to feel more confident participating in existing academic debates. The semester will culminate in a research project designed for students to learn how to find, analyze and engage with secondary sources at the university level.
Texts:
Bram Stoker, Dracula (Dover, ISBN: 978-0486454010)
Valdimar Ásmundsson, Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula, translated by Hans Corneel de Roos (Harry N. Abrams, ISBN: 978-1468313369)
Course Reader
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.
Instructor pending appointment.
TuWTh 10-12, Taught online/Zoom. Instructor: Liam Waters
Units: 4
This class will be taught via synchronous remote instruction. Time conflicts are not allowed for this class.
“Only that man who travels widely
and has journeyed a great deal knows
what sort of mind each man has in his control;
he who’s sharp in his wits.”
–Hávamál 18 (trans. Carolyne Larrington)
From the shores of Newfoundland to the halls of Byzantium, the history of Scandinavian activity in the Viking-Age is one defined by travel, exploration, and settlement. Whether raiding the shores of Britain and Ireland, settling the fields of Iceland, or traveling by camelback to Baghdad, the range of places journeyed to and activities undertaken by medieval Scandinavian peoples varied substantially. In this course, we will analyze the context and form of medieval texts as well as explore the historical motivations for Viking Age activities during this seminal period of history. In so doing, we will develop critical and analytic thinking skills, hone thesis-writing techniques, and analyze the forms and strategies of compelling writing. Together, we will investigate the interplay between the content, style, and organization in our own writing. Our aim will be to develop and practice reading, critical analysis, and composition with an eye towards academic research. As such, we will discuss the use of secondary sources, citation, and critique.
This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.
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.