Instructor: Benjamin Ludwig
Course Time: TBA
General Education: Art
Term: Winter 2014

DESCRIPTION:

We are a storytelling species. Through our stories, both about others and ourselves, we shape our life experiences from the cradle to the grave. The greatest and most powerful stories are treasured within each civilization as the very basis of religion, philosophy, history and society itself. The uncountable millions who lived by these stories simply knew them as Truth, but today we call them Mythology.

n this course, students study humanity’s relationship with nature and the divine through the great mythological stories and systems of many cultures. Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Japanese, Arthurian and other mythologies are examined through history, art, literature and storytelling. Through this process, students will gain a better understanding of both what separates and what binds diverse cultures and civilizations together throughout the world. Evaluations include tests, rIeflection papers, and at least one major project of the student’s own devising which will deepen or express their knowledge of the Great Stories of the world.

Texts:

Joseph Campbell, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”

Edith Hamilton, “Mythology”