Mythology

Syllabus

Schedule

Goals:

• To gain an in-depth knowledge of the mythology of Ancient Greece, and to become familiar with the key mythological narratives of the ancient Near East and Northern Europe;
• To develop an understanding of how these myths reflect the social structure, material culture, and religious and historical beliefs of the worlds which gave rise to them;
• To develop an understanding of how these myths recur in the art, literature and popular culture of modern Western society.

Requirements:

• Attendance is mandatory.  If you miss more than three classes, 2 points will be taken from your final grade for each class missed.
• Quizzes (20%). We will usually have a quiz on Thursday.  If you don't keep up with the names & terms, you'll get lost quickly -- these quizzes help in that process.  Quizzes may not be made up though if you have a good reason for a miss (for example, a school sponsored field trip or athletic event) I will arrange for you to take the quiz early.  I will drop one quiz grade.
• A midterm and a final (20% each). Exams will contain both factual and essay sections.
• Two short papers (10% each). These are set topics in which you draw from primary source texts and princiuples of the course to write a 2-3 page commentary on a myth.  See Important Information more details on the requirements for the paper.
• Research Paper (20%). 3-5 page paper on a topic of your choice; some topics will be suggested.  See Important Information for further instructions.

Other Information:

Your professor: Dr. Andrea Deagon.

• Office: LH 273.
• My office hours: MW 12:00-2:00, TR 11-1:00 or by appointment.
• Phone: 962-3870.
• If you care enough to look me up in the phone book, you can call me at home 10 am – 10 pm.
• Email: deagona@uncw.edu
• Note: If you leave me a cell phone number from a phone in another area code than 910, I will not call you back on that line because it is a long distance call and our department’s budget for long distance calls is tiny.  Leave me an email address or a local number and I will try to get back with you that way. 

Textbooks:

• Morford and Lenardon, Classical Mythology
• Inanna's Descent (online resource)
• Epic of Gilgamesh (online resource)
• Snorri Sturlesson, Prose Edda (online resource)

Grade Scale:

Policies:

Safety: UNCW practices a zero-tolerance policy for violence and harassment of any kind, so kindly do not violently harrass each other or me.  For emergencies contact UNCW CARE at 962-2273, Campus Police at 962-3184, or Wilmington Police at 911.  For University or community resources visit http://uncw.edu/wrc/crisis.htm.

Honor Code: This class is conducted in accordance with the honor code of UNCW as detailed in the Code of Student Life.  Please don't cheat, I hate failing people.  If you are in any doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism in paper-writing, there are detailed guidelines in Important Information.

Final Exam policy: Part of the final exam involves my showing slides for your identification and commentary.  Consequently, you must be at the exam when it begins in order to complete the slide section, which will only be shown at the beginning of the exam.

Manners: Come to class on time.  Do not play video games or do email while pretending to take notes.  Turn off cell phones and other irrelevant media in class.  Listen attentively to my comments and your classmates' contributions.  Participate, be kind, volunteer.