Tuesday, Thursday, 7:30 - 8:45 p.m.

270 Willard Building

Instructor: Alan Jalowitz Office: South 409 Burrowes

Mailbox: 311 Burrowes Office Phone: 863-7484

Home Phone: 867-3032 Office Hours: 10:00 -12:00

Email: acj2@psu.edu and by appointment.

Website: http://www.personal.psu.edu/~acj2

Add in Coyote, Hiawatha, Gilgamesh, Inanna, Arjuna and a cast of thousands--well, dozens--and you’ve got the picture about this course. For those of you who loved reading the Iliad or watching Clash of the Titans, this course will add to your perspective on myths. For those of you whose first opportunity to study mythology is in this class, you are in for a treat. For all of you, this course will be a kind of spiritual travelogue through the beliefs and stories of peoples that are not read as often as the Greeks or the Romans.

Paul Zolbrod, ed. Dine Bahane: The Navajo Creation Story, U of New Mexico Press

Coomaraswamy & Nivedita. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Dover

Barbara Sproul, ed. Primal Myths. Harper Collins

N.K. Sandars, ed. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin

N.K. Sandars, ed. Poems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia. Penguin

and a number of supplemental readings on the course website for each unit.

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

Ï Articulate characteristics associated with various types of mythic functions.

Ï Understand the similarities and differences between oral and written literature.

Ï Analyze the impact of mythology on a people.

Ï Understand the ways in which myth, as a collection of the traditional narratives of a culture

group, functions to express the group’s value systems and behavioral expectations in

modern as well as earlier times.

Ï Form a great appreciation for some of the world’s cultures with which you may not already

be familiar.

Ï Critically analyze works in terms of form and style.

Ï Acquire a background for further studies in literature for a career and/or for pleasure.

There will be three exams during the course. The format of the exams will be essay/short answer. Make-up exams will not be given for reasons of prior low grades. Students with University-excused absences on test days must clear those absences with me ahead of time. The final exam will be comprehensive.

You will be writing one paper during the term. It will have a four-page minimum length and will ask you to discuss either a) a non-Greek or Roman myth we have not discussed in class with respect to its culture and function or b) assess modern mythology in the making (tales of characters that become mythic in nature and tone). Each paper should be comparative in nature, comparing a "new" myth with one we have addressed in class., Successful completion of this assignment will include an oral report summarizing your paper delivered during the last week of the course. The materials from these reports will be considered fair game for the final examination.

Participation in class discussion and attendance are counted in the final grade. Make sure you contribute enough during the semester to make a substantive impression. I may also give impromptu quizzes if discussions lag or are carried by one or two people. For those of you with a more retiring disposition, I will also include some written summaries or reactions to readings that will be turned in. Email will be considered acceptable for this purpose.

All written assignments must be turned in on time. No late papers will be accepted. More than four absences during the term without University sanction or dire family circumstances will negatively affect your grade.

Extra credit will be available. Students may attempt two extra credit projects, each worth a potential of 5% of the final grade. To submit a project, the student must receive approval of a proposal for that project.

Your final grade will be determined by adding the total point values of the following categories:

First Midterm Exam 20%

Second Midterm Exam 20%

Final Exam 20%

Paper and Oral Report 20%

Quizzes 10%

Participation & Attendance 10%

A= 93 - 100% C+= 76-79%

A-= 90 - 92% C=70-75%

B+=87 - 89% D=60-69%

B=83 - 86% F=59% and below

B-=80 - 82%

You, of course, will be expected to do your own work on both the assignments and exams. If academic dishonesty is suspected (plagiarism and other difficulties), the instructor reserves the right to ask the student(s) concerned to take an oral exam to demonstrate his/her knowledge. Appropriate action will be taken.

The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course, or have any questions about physical access, please tell the instructor.

If you find that you are having trouble with any of the exams or the assignments, please see me early in the semester. Do not wait until the end of the semester to discuss any problems you are having.

Please read the following assignments before coming to class on that day. It will be very difficult for you to participate in the class discussion if you have not read the material. You will be responsible for the material covered in class as well as for the readings. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up what you have missed.

Tuesday, 24 August -- Introduction to Course and Mythology

Thursday, 26 August -- Introduction to Native American Mythology

Tuesday, 31 August -- Iroquois Creation II -- Website

Thursday, 2 September -- Dine Bahane

Tuesday, 7 September -- Dine Bahane

Thursday, 9 September -- Dine Bahane

Tuesday, 14 September -- Dine Bahane

Thursday, 16 September -- Dine Bahane

Tuesday, 21 September -- Lakota and Ojibwa Stories -- Website

Thursday, 23 September -- Examination #1

Tuesday, 28 September -- Introduction to the Middle East. The Epic of Gilgamesh

Thursday, 30 September -- Gilgamesh, continued

Tuesday, 5 October -- Enuma Elish (Poems of Heaven and Hell)

Thursday, 7 October -- Enuma Elish, continued; Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld

Tuesday, 12 October -- Fall Break -- No Class

Thursday, 14 October -- Atrakhasis (Website); Islamic Creation; Genesis

Tuesday, 19 October -- Examination #2

Thursday, 21 October -- Introduction to Hinduism

Tuesday, 26 October -- Mahabharata

Thursday, 28 October -- Mahabharata

Tuesday, 2 November -- Mahabharata

Thursday, 11 November -- Mahabharata

Tuesday, 16 November -- Stories of Vishnu and Krishna

Thursday, 18 November -- West African Mythology -- Dogon

Tuesday, 23 November -- Fon, Bushman

Thursday, 25 November -- Thanksgiving -- No Class

Tuesday, 30 November -- Aetiological Myths of the Pleaides

Thursday, 2 December -- Myths of the End of the World

Tuesday, 7 December -- Mythopoesis -- Tolkien and Adams -- Website

Thursday, 9 December -- Oral Reports

Tuesday, 14 December -- Final Examination - 6:50-8:40 p.m.