Classes.

[brigdh]

So, I'm working on scheduling what course I'll be taking next quarter, and there's a few that I can't decide between. I've got enough time to take a fun class (yes, there are fun classes. Shut up, I'm a dork), but I don't know which one I like the best. Here are my favorite ones:


1. Shakespeare - Through a close study of four major plays, and glances at two others, we’ll try to determine what makes Shakespeare’s work as relevant to today’s issues as it was to those of the turn of the seventeenth century. Although we’ll certainly pay attention to the ideas and conventions of the Renaissance, we won’t forget that human nature doesn’t change very much from age to age; and during the current debates about the nature of justice, public vs. private morality, and the dissolution of community structures, it may comfort us to find that we aren’t the first to be faced with such dilemmas. The plays will include comedy, tragedy, and history: Measure for Measure; Hamlet; King Lear; Henry VI, Part 3; Richard III; and, as a special bonus, Titus Andronicus, a bloody pot boiler of Shakespeare’s early years. There will probably be two midterms, a medium-length paper (5-10 pages), and a final.

2. Shakespearean Identities - Through close study of the language, structure, and artistry of Shakespeare's poetry and drama, this course introduces students to the many ways in which the author's work probes essential questions of human identity. In their elaborate experimentation with linguistic and dramatic masks, Shakespeare's sonnets and plays explore the shifting boundaries of the self: how it is defined in relation to others, to physical surroundings, and to social structures like marriage, political hierarchy, and class. Our study of Shakespeare will focus on several questions of identity: How is individual identity constructed? How do we know ourselves and our world? And what are the limits of that knowledge? Texts: selected sonnets, Richard II, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Othello, Merchant of Venice, and Hamlet. Course requirements: three 1-2 page response papers, one 6-8 page formal essay, a performance assignment, and a final exam.

3. Religion and Media - This course will introduce you to the longstanding and complex connection between religious practices and various media. We will first analyze how human hearing, vision and the performing body have been used historically to express and maintain religious life through music, voice, images, words and rituals. Then we will spend time on more recent electronic media such as cassette, film, television, video, and the internet. Students should note that an anthropological/ historical perspective on studying religion will be pursued in the course. We will read, listen, view, log on, discuss and write. Texts: Berger, Peter. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion
Brasher, Brenda. Give Me That Online Religion (limited # available, first 100 pages in packet)
Eck, Diana. Darsan, Seeing the Divine Image in India.
Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion
McAlister, Elizabeth, Rara! Vodou Power and Performance in Haiti and its Diaspora
Heather Hendershot, Shaking the World for Jesus: Evangelicals and Popular Culture

4. Arthurian Legends - This course will explore the rich tradition of Arthuriana that flourished in the Middle Ages
and continues to thrive in modern popular culture. After sampling some of the earliest legends
about King Arthur in British histories and saints' lives, we will focus on three major works/authors:
the fabulous tales of knights errant by Chretien de Troyes, known as the "father of Arthurian romance";
Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, a haunting, often bewildering, story of sin and self-discovery
centered on the quest for the holy grail; and Malory's epic Morte Darthur, which, more than any single
text, has shaped modern conceptions of Arthur.


Which do you think sounds like it'd be the coolest?

Comments

[gamera.livejournal.com]

...I would kill to be in that Arthurian Legends class, beccause I'm the biggest Arthurian geek ever.

[eag.livejournal.com]

Religion and Media sounds pretty interesting, imho.

FYI, if you've never seen/read it, Titus Andronicus is pretty cool. @_@ I saw a pared down version last year, and it was intense. *shiver*

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I've read Titus Adronicus and I adore it. The fact that they're offering it is one of my major motivations to take that class. It's so bloody and violent and disturbing. And Aaron is a pretty cool character.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm interested in that one because I know, like, *nothing* about Arthurian legends, though I'd like to learn.

[poisoninjest.livejournal.com]

Both Shakespeare classes sound cool. I'm all about original cultural context and usually couldn't care less what Shakespeare's plays "mean today," but I'd jump on any class offering 3H6, R3, and Titus-- plays I absolutely love, and which don't get taught much. The identity class sounds cool too, especially since "individual identity" as we think of it was a pretty new idea in the Renaissance. :o)

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I like the Shakespeare & Identity class best, because it sounds like it would be a good mix of litcrit and historical grounding (bet you twenty bucks extracts from Renaissance Self-Fashioning are on the syllabus); I'm a bit wary of the "contemporary relevance" in the description of the other one.

I am, of course, not the person who'd be taking the class. ;)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

God, I wish I was in college. I envy you.

Well, personally I'd probably go for the Arthur class because I haven't read any of the texts. But the Shakespeare classes sound fun too-- probably the identity one because, like Mely suggested, "contemporary relevance" can lead to long discussions of the war on Iraq. In class. But... I don't know... the texts for the religion one look good too.

[eag.livejournal.com]

Aaron was hot. <33 The one in the production we saw just about humped up that queen lady on stage. :)

It's such a wonderful play. They should really do more of that sort of Shakespeare, as opposed to Romeo and Juliet for the nine billionth time.

[bloodlikerain.livejournal.com]

i'd take the arthurian one too,,, in fact, I WANT TO! can you give me a course number?

[goddessgrrrrl.livejournal.com]

The second class has three of my favorite Shakespearean works-- Othello, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice (which, ironically, I like muchly). I can probably even give you a term paper on anti-Semetic themes in Shakespear you can turn in as your own if you take that one :-)

I think the religion and media class sounds awesome, too... Especially since I currently live in the hometown of Trinity Broadcasting. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Religion in media. Also because it sounds like something they might not offer every semester, unlike, say, the Shakespeare class.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

What's the rest of your course load like? Because I note in looking these over that the Shakespearean Identities class looks very cool, and like I wish I could sit in on it; but that it also requires probably twice as much in the way of papers and performance assignments and stuff than the Shakespeare reading class, which has midterms and a final but only one paper. Which will be no problem if you aren't killing yourself with your other classes, but could become an issue if you are.

The Morte d'Arthur (which I have read at, but never read in its entirety) and the de Troyes are, um, less accessible than I had expected them to be when I first encountered them. Which is to say, I think the Arthurian class could be an incredible amount of fun, under the right circumstances; but if you haven't read a lot of medieval lit before, you might want to read a few pages of the Mallory before you sign up for this one, just to make sure you don't hate it. (I don't mean to suggest that you would; just that I know some people do.)

Religion and media sounds like a big box of chocolates, too. Now I wish I were back in school, and could take them all.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yep. I love Romeo and Juliet, but it's kinda sad that so many people don't even *know* about any of his other plays.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's why I so tempted by the general Shakespeare one- I love the plays they chose. Thanks for the advice, though- especially since I know you're all about the Shakespeare. *grins*

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

It's Medieval and Renaissance Studies 504, Monday and Wednesday 3:30-5:18, taught by Karen Winstead.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hee, cool. I haven't read Merchant of Venice, but I really like the other two. On the other hand, I also really like Titus and Richard III, which are in the first choice.

The Religion one is neat, too. Argh! So many choices! ^^;

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, good point. Hmmm, I should probably look at the times too, and figure out which is best that way.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's the one offered at the best time, too, it's just that I liked the plays in the other class better. But on the other hand, it'd probably be a more interesting class than one more general. Too many choices! ;)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah. I love it.

I'd like the take the Arthur class just because I know pretty much nothing about those legends- the most in-depth experience I have with them is that miniseries they made several years ago. And most of the Shakespeare plays I've read. But it'd still be fun to take them in a class.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

What's the rest of your course load like?

Ah, yes. Always a good point that I forget to think about. Given that I'll be taking a grad-level class, a 103 language class, and another one that's likely to be intensive with the papers, course-load is an important consideration.

That's a great idea. I'll look up those next time I'm in the library- what an easy way to guess if I'll like the class or not! Because I'm interested in the topic, but you're right, I haven't tried to read anything from the midieval period. Well- I once read about a page of Chaucer and hated it, but I was ten at time, so my opinion might have changed. *grins*

Now I wish I were back in school, and could take them all.

*sighs* I know! I don't want to leave. There's so many cool classes that I didn't get to take.