WORLD MYTHOLOGY 01:195:150: section 06
SYLLABUS SPRING 2013
INSTRUCTOR: Romana Uhlirova
TIME/PLACE: MTH 12:35-1:55PM, office hours: TH 11:30AM-12:30PM & by appointment
MAKING CONTACT: Program Office: Program in Comparative Literature, 195 College Av., CAC,
732/932-7606. E-mail: Please use my RCI e-mail account ONLY: <uhlirova@rci.rutgers.edu>.
COURSE MATERIALS: AVAILABLE AT: NJ BOOKS, 37 Easton Ave., New Brunswick
a) COURSE PACKET: REQUIRED: Note that this packet contains most of the course readings
and it is therefore very important for you to purchase it as soon as possible!
b) BOOKS:
1. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. (any recent edition) (REQUIRED)
2. Sandars, N. K. The Epic of Gilgamesh. ISBN 0-140-44100-x (REQUIRED)
3. Wolkstein, Diane and Samuel Noah Kramer. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth.
ISBN 0-06-090854-8 (REQUIRED)
4. Zolbrod, Paul G. Dine Bahane: The Navajo Creation Story. (OPTIONAL: available at NJ BOOKS,
ask for Josef Benninghoff, Trade Books Manager)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
a) Attendance: is essential. You are allowed to have 4 absences in this course. Note that more than 4
absences will have a profound effect on your final grade. Prolonged illnesses and other unusual situations
should be discussed with the instructor right away and you will be asked to produce documentation.
Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the
University absence reporting website http://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra to indicate the date and reason for your
absence. An e-mail is automatically sent to me. Consistently late arrivals will also result in a lower grade. If
you are late or miss a class, you are responsible for making up the material on your own time.
b) Class participation and etiquette: Show up on time and stay until the class is over (please notify me
ahead of time if you expect to be late or need to leave early: this should be the exception rather than the
rule). You are to come to class having read your assignments and be able to discuss them. Class discussion
about the texts will be an important part of the course and I expect frequent and thoughtful contributions
from you. Your regular active participation in discussions will have an effect on your final grade.
If you have something to say, raise your hand but do not talk unless you are contributing to the class
discussion. Be courteous to the instructor and to your classmates and considerate of their ideas and
opinions. The use of cell phones (including text messaging), blackberries or any similar type of
electronic devices is not permitted in class. Please turn them off and put them away prior to class.
The use of laptops during class is not permitted. Keep in mind that texting or using the internet during
class will negatively affect your participation grade. All work submitted in the course must be your own. It
is unethical and a violation of the University's Academic Integrity Policy to present the ideas of another
without clearly identifying the source. See http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml for more
information on plagiarism policies.
c) Grades: Are non-negotiable unless there has been a clerical error. I do not send grades via e-mail -- final
grades will available from the Rutgers transcript website (http://registrar.rutgers.edu). Your final grades
will be based on the following:
-participation/attendance: 20%
-midterm exam (T/F, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks): 20%
-final exam (comprehensive/same as midterm + essay questions): 20%
-presentation: 20%
-journals: 20%
Journals: 1 full page on each text, double spaced, 12 font*. Your journal should consist of two parts:
1. in the first part of the journal write a brief summary of the text (half a page)
2. in the second part your comments, reflections or reactions to it plus any questions you would like to
discuss in class in regard to the reading. Comparative analysis is welcome! Do not hesitate to be personal in
your comments; you can relate the story to something you or somebody you know have experienced, heard
about, read etc. I expect the journals to be typed and stapled. Your name and the title of the text should
appear in the upper right corner of your journal page. I will read your journals and grade them as P (Pass)
and N/P (Not Passing). Requirements for a passing journal: handed in on time (see Course Calendar),
has the required length and both parts of the assignment were given equal weight and attention. If you were
absent, you are responsible for bringing your journal to the next class. Otherwise late journals will NOT be
accepted (you will receive an automatic N/P). Keep in mind that plagiarism is easily recognizable and will
be penalized. (*When two texts are assigned for a particular day, you will write one page on each text and when
more than two texts are assigned (e.g. the tales about Baba Yaga), you will choose only two texts and again write one
page on each of them (see Course Calendar). In both cases your journal will be two pages long instead of the usual one
page. Both journals should be stapled together.
Presentation: Working in groups of three, you will be asked to introduce us to a particular culture and its
mythological tradition. Your presentations will take place in March and April and we will discuss them in
greater detail later on in the semester. You will receive a separate handout.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This course fulfills Global Awareness and Humanities
Requirements. You will be introduced to various world cultures through reading and discussing their
myths. You will become familiar with basic archetypes as they appear in these myths; we will especially
explore myths focusing on Creation, the Great Goddess and the Hero Quest. The focus of the course is on
interpretation of the meaning of the chosen texts, but you will at the same time become better at
deciphering the meaning/s of stories and myths outside of this course. In addition to exploring ancient and
foreign cultures, we will also try to think about the contemporary culture and society in terms of its stories
and values.
COURSE CALENDAR
Jan 17 Introduction: World Myth
Jan 19 Introduction: World Myth
Jan 24 Creation Myths: DINE BAHANE: THE EMERGENCE (Journal 1 due) in the packet!
Jan 26 Creation Myths: DINE BAHANE – cont.
Feb 31 Creation Myths: THE ENUMA ELISH (Journal 2 due) packet!
Feb 2 Creation Myths: THE CREATION - THE POPOL VUH (Journal 3 due) packet!
Feb 7 Creation Myths/ Great Goddess: THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE AND JAPAN
AMATERASU (Journal 4 due: 2 pages, one on each text)
Feb 9 Great Goddess INANNA QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (pp. 4 – 89); (Journal 5 due)
Feb 14 Great Goddess/ Hero Quest: INANNA QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH - cont.
Feb 16 Great Goddess: DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE (Journal 6 due) packet!
Feb 21 Great Goddess: OSIRIS, ISIS, AND HORUS (Journal 7 due) packet!
Feb 23 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Feb 28 Great Goddess/ Hero Quest: THE STORY OF SAVITRI (Journal 8 due) packet!
March 1 RUN LOLA RUN (film)
March 6 Great Goddess/ Hero Quest: FAIR VASILISSA AND BABA YAGA; BABA YAGA;
MARIA MOREVNA; BABA YAGA AND THE BRAVE
YOUTH (Journal 9 due: choose any two texts; staple!) packet!
March 8 THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD (Journal 10 due)
SPRING BREAK
March 20 Hero Quest: THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH (Journal 11 due)
March 22, 27 presentations prep
March 29, April 3, 5, 10, 12: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
April 17, 19 SMOKE SIGNALS (film)
April 24, 26 Conclusion
FINAL EXAMINATION : http://finalexams.rutgers.edu