SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor

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1 Voyage: Spring 2015 Discipline: Religious Studies RELG 1559: World Mythologies Division: Lower Faculty Name: Hugh Flick Credit Hours: 3; Contact Hours: 38 Meets: B Days, 10:50-12:05 SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor Pre-requisites: NONE COURSE DESCRIPTION Myth is a type of traditional narrative that answers some of a culture s most basic questions about life and questions about the way the culture creates its identity. Because of the importance of the questions that myth answers, myths are carefully preserved and transmitted from one generation to new members of the culture in the next generation. This course will explore some of the most important types of myth including cosmogonic myth (creation stories), culture hero myths, and trickster myths. Myths contain a variety of meanings and so students will learn to apply a variety of hermeneutic (interpretive) approaches to the myths we study. These approaches and techniques will examine the relationships between myth and nature, myth and ritual, myth and the psyche, and myth and society. In this course, students will study myths from Japan, China, India, Africa, Babylonia, Greece, and the Middle East. COURSE OBJECTIVES Students will learn how to read and understand myths from a variety of cultures. Students will be able to examine a myth in the context of the culture that created it and transmitted it. Students will learn how to understand a variety of possible methodologies for interpreting myth. Students will apply what they have learned to a mythological tradition of their choice. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: Sproul, Barbara TITLE: Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World PUBLISHER: HarperOne ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 1979 AUTHOR: Doty, William TITLE: Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals PUBLISHER: University of Alabama Press ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: 2000

2 TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE ( B CLASS) JANUARY 10 Class 1 Introduction to Mythology B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp W. Doty, Mythography, pp JANUARY 12 Class 2 Interpreting Myth. W. O Flaherty, The Myth of Method in Mythology, pp in Course Folder on R. van Over, Introduction: The Meaning of Myths, pp in Course Folder on W. Doty, Mythography, pp JANUARY 15 Class 3 Creation Myths of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp , P. Colum, Seven Great Deeds of Maui, pp in Course Folder on Port: Hilo JANUARY 17 Class 4 Myth as Etiology, Myth and Nature W. Doty, Mythography, pp R. Segal, The Myth and Ritual Theory pp in Course Folder on JANUARY 20 Discussion Section Meeting 1 G.S. Kirk. Five Monolithic Theories, pp in Course Folder on JANUARY 21 Class 5 Myth and Ritual, In Illo Tempore W. Doty, Mythography, pp M. Eliade, Sacred Space and Making the World, pp in Course Folder on JANUARY 23 Class 6 Myth and Society. Functionalism. W. Doty, Mythography, pp B. Malinowski, The Role of Myth in Life, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard B. Malinowski, The Role of Magic in Religion, pp in Course Folder on JANUARY 25 Class 7 Japanese Mythology B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp J. Piggott, The Country and Its Creation, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard J. Piggott, The Beliefs and Deities of Japan, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard

3 Ports: Yokohama and Kobe FEBRUARY 2 Class 8 Chinese Mythology B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp A. Christie, The Creation of the World, pp in Course Folder on Rosenberg, The Creation of the Universe and Human Beings and Chi Li Slays the Serpent, pp in Course Folder on A. Christie, Men and Animals, pp in Course Folder on A. Shep, Monkey, pp in Course Folder on Ports: Shanghai and Hong Kong FEBRUARY 10 Class 9 Vietnamese Mythology N. Binh, The Power and relevance of Vietnamese Myths, pp in Course Folder on Port: Ho Chi Minh City FEBRUARY 18 Class 10 Myth and the Individual Psyche W. Doty, Mythography, pp W. Desmonde, Jack and the Beanstalk, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard FEBRUARY 21 Discussion Section Meeting 2 W. Hudson, Jung on Myth and the Mythic, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard Port: Singapore FEBRUARY 23 Class 11 Myth and the Collective Unconscious W. Doty, Mythography, pp R. Segal, Jung on Mythology, pp in Course Folder on Port: Rangoon MARCH 3 Class 12 Indian Mythology D. Eck, Seeing the Sacred, pp in Course Folder on D. Eck, The Nature of the Hindu Image, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard D. Eck, India s Tirthas: Crossings, pp in Course Folder on MARCH 5 Class 13 Indian Mythology Creation Myths

4 Port: Cochin B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp W. O Flaherty (trans), The Rig Veda, pp , , and in Course Folder on MARCH 13 Class 14 Structural Interpretations Propp, selections from Morphology of the Folktale, pp. xi-xvi and in Course Folder on Levi-Strauss, The Structural Study of Myth, pp in Course Folder on W. Doty, Mythography, pp MARCH 14 Discussion Section Meeting 3--Review MARCH 16 Class 15 Midterm Exam Port: Port Louis MARCH 19 Class 16 African Mythology A. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp MARCH 22 Class 17 The Mythic Trickster W. Hynes and W. Doty, Introducing the Fascinating and Perplexing Trickster Figure, pp in Course Folder on W. Hynes, Mapping the Characteristics of Mythic Tricksters, pp in Course Folder on MARCH 24 Class 18 The African Trickster L. Makarius, The Myth of the Trickster, pp W. Doty, Mythography, pp Port: Cape Town APRIL 1 Class 19 African Trickster Myths Christopher Vecsey, Ananse the Akan Trickster, pp in Course Folder on R. Pelton, West African Tricksters, pp in Course Folder on R. Ellwood, A Japanese Mythic Trickster Figure, pp in Course Folder on Port: Walvis Bay APRIL 8 Class 20 Judeo-Christian Creation Myth and Flood Myth

5 B. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp T. Fymer-Kensky. The Atrahasis Epic and Its Significance for Our Understanding of Genesis 1-9, pp in Course Folder on N. Habel, Two Flood Stories in Genesis, pp in Course Folder on Shipboard APRIL 10 Discussion Section Meeting 4 A.B. Rooth, The Creation Myths of the North American Indians, pp in Course Folder on APRIL 11 Class 21 The Flood Myth A. Dundes, Introduction to The Flood Myth, pp. 1-5 in Course Folder on Shipboard K. Armstrong, The Flood, Noah, and The Ark, pp in Course Folder on J. Frazer, The Great Flood, pp in Course Folder on APRIL 13 Class 22 Myths of Babylon: The Enuma Elish and Gilgamesh C. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp D. Rosenberg, Gilgamesh pp in Course Folder on APRIL 15 Class 23 Creation Myth of Ancient Greece: Hesiod's Theogony. E. Sproul, Primal Myths, pp APRIL 16 Discussion Section Meeting 5 Discussions of Term Papers APRIL 18 Class 24 Conclusion and Review **Term Paper due** Port: Casablanca APRIL 24 Final Exam Term paper Assignment pages. Due April 18 Choose one of the following topics and write a page term paper applying any of the hermeneutical tools we have studied this term: 1) Investigate the mythology of a mythic tradition that interests you (e.g. Native American, Indian [India], Scandinavian, African, Egyptian, Australian, Chinese, Japanese, Babylonian, Sumerian, Celtic, etc.). 2) Investigate a particular type of myth (e.g. creation myths, heroic myths, flood myths, trickster myths, etc.).

SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor

SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor Voyage: Spring 2015 Discipline: Psychology PSYC 3500-101: Evolutionary Psychology Division: Upper Faculty Name: Joseph Lowman Credit Hours: 3; Contact Hours: 38 B Days 1300-14:15 hours Pre-requisites: