Classical Mythology/History Syllabus and Class Info
Myth into History, History into Myth: Revolutionizing the Way We Look At the Ancient World
Instructor: Janice Covington
Office Hours: Wednesdays 12:30PM - 4:30PM
Phone: 555-WHIP
TA: Zack Addy (twohalvesofaphd)
Class Information
Everything you know about the ancient world is incomplete or just flat-out wrong. This course will provide you with a new view on the history of the ancient world, based on information acquired from the Xena Scrolls that my partner Melinda Pappas and I have recently unearthed.
General class structure will consist of a brief lecture on the "myth," historical event, or deity of the week, comparing a standard version with the events according to the Xena Scrolls. Students will have the opportunity to ask Janice questions on the lecture, then break into discussion groups to debate the accuracy of the Scrolls' accounts versus the standard ones. There will also be a weekly activity in which the class will have the opportunity to re-enact a seemingly impossible feat detailed in the Scrolls, and decide for themselves if it could really have happened.
[[OOC Class Information: External links will be provided (online myth sources and episode summaries) as well as a more concise synopsis in the class post itself.
Other OOC information: Look for classes to be posted by midnight EST on Wednesday nights, so I can get in a decent amount of interaction before bed. I'll ping in as much as I can during the day, but expect SP as my workday availability can vary. Other than that, I'll resume pings when I get home.]]
Syllabus
Week 1: (Re)Introductions
Week 2: The Gods You (Thought You) Know
- Focus: Aphrodite and Ares
Week 3: Larger Than Life?
- Focus: Ulysses, Cecrops
Week 4: It's All Greek Hebrew To Me
- Focus: Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael; David and Goliath
Week 5: Classical History I
- Focus: Trojan War
Week 6: Classical History II
- Focus: The Battle of Marathon
Week 7 Classical History III - When in Rome
- Focus: The First Triumvirate, Roman Involvement in Gaul, Vercingetorix, the assassinations of Pompey and Julius Caesar
Week 8: Classical History IV - Roman Redux
- Focus: Caligula
Week 9: The British Isles and Beyond
- Focus: Boadicea, Norse myth, and the Valkyries
Week 10: Eastward Ho!
- Focus: China (the origins of the Tao Te Ching, Qin Shi Huang's terra cotta army)
Week 11: Give Credit Where It's Due
- Focus: Hippocrates, Xena, and the foundations of modern medicine
Week 12: Yes, Virginia, There Is A . . .
- Focus: The Bacchae -- historical evidence of vampires?
Week 13: Yes, Virginia, Part II
- Focus: An ancient ban on dancing, historical evidence of . . . Santa Claus?
Week 15: Final
Roster
Addy, Zack (TA)
Biers, D'anna
Broots, JC
Carnahan, Evelyn
D'Ancanto, Marie
Diggory, Cedric
Fraiser, Janet
Halliwell, Phoebe
Joxer
Kessler, William
Rodriguez, Carmela
Vandom, Will
Winchester, Sam
Wormwood, Matilda
Instructor: Janice Covington
Office Hours: Wednesdays 12:30PM - 4:30PM
Phone: 555-WHIP
TA: Zack Addy (twohalvesofaphd)
Class Information
Everything you know about the ancient world is incomplete or just flat-out wrong. This course will provide you with a new view on the history of the ancient world, based on information acquired from the Xena Scrolls that my partner Melinda Pappas and I have recently unearthed.
General class structure will consist of a brief lecture on the "myth," historical event, or deity of the week, comparing a standard version with the events according to the Xena Scrolls. Students will have the opportunity to ask Janice questions on the lecture, then break into discussion groups to debate the accuracy of the Scrolls' accounts versus the standard ones. There will also be a weekly activity in which the class will have the opportunity to re-enact a seemingly impossible feat detailed in the Scrolls, and decide for themselves if it could really have happened.
[[OOC Class Information: External links will be provided (online myth sources and episode summaries) as well as a more concise synopsis in the class post itself.
Other OOC information: Look for classes to be posted by midnight EST on Wednesday nights, so I can get in a decent amount of interaction before bed. I'll ping in as much as I can during the day, but expect SP as my workday availability can vary. Other than that, I'll resume pings when I get home.]]
Syllabus
Week 1: (Re)Introductions
Week 2: The Gods You (Thought You) Know
- Focus: Aphrodite and Ares
Week 3: Larger Than Life?
- Focus: Ulysses, Cecrops
Week 4: It's All Greek Hebrew To Me
- Focus: Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael; David and Goliath
Week 5: Classical History I
- Focus: Trojan War
Week 6: Classical History II
- Focus: The Battle of Marathon
Week 7 Classical History III - When in Rome
- Focus: The First Triumvirate, Roman Involvement in Gaul, Vercingetorix, the assassinations of Pompey and Julius Caesar
Week 8: Classical History IV - Roman Redux
- Focus: Caligula
Week 9: The British Isles and Beyond
- Focus: Boadicea, Norse myth, and the Valkyries
Week 10: Eastward Ho!
- Focus: China (the origins of the Tao Te Ching, Qin Shi Huang's terra cotta army)
Week 11: Give Credit Where It's Due
- Focus: Hippocrates, Xena, and the foundations of modern medicine
Week 12: Yes, Virginia, There Is A . . .
- Focus: The Bacchae -- historical evidence of vampires?
Week 13: Yes, Virginia, Part II
- Focus: An ancient ban on dancing, historical evidence of . . . Santa Claus?
Week 15: Final
Roster
Addy, Zack (TA)
Biers, D'anna
Broots, JC
Carnahan, Evelyn
D'Ancanto, Marie
Diggory, Cedric
Fraiser, Janet
Halliwell, Phoebe
Joxer
Kessler, William
Rodriguez, Carmela
Vandom, Will
Winchester, Sam
Wormwood, Matilda