January 2012 Study Abroad Courses Taught by English Faculty
Paideia II 450: Christianity, Slavery, and Their Representations in
Ghanaian Literature
INSTRUCTORS: Novian Whitsitt (Africana Studies/ English); Guy Nave
(Religion)
Course Description: This course explores the complex connections
between Christianity and the North Atlantic slave trade by: (1) examining
slave routes and the geography of enslavement in Ghana, visiting (as
possible) cities such as Tamale, Salaga,and Kumasi – exploring landmarks
and institutions of the slave industry throughout Ghana; (2) studying and visiting the Cape Coast
and El Mina slave castles; and (3) examining and interpreting historical, literary, and religious texts
related to slavery. We consider the way European and European-American Christians justified
slavery – consciously or unconsciously—through interpretive and institutional practices. We also
examine the perspective of African scholars and creative writers on the effects of Christianity upon
indigenous cultures and social institutions. Additionally, we will speak with local Ghanaians
throughout our travels, specifically about their understanding, memory, and relationship to the
Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
English 239: “Tales of the Sea” on the Windjammer, Roseway (Virgin
Islands)
INSTRUCTOR: Nick Preus (English)
Course Description: Join this J-Term course in the Virgin Islands and
read the literature of the sea while sailing on a two-masted schooner.
Experience the way sailing vessels of the past traveled long distances on
the power of the wind alone without any fossil fuel. Students will stay
aboard the windjammer, Roseway, home of the World Ocean School,
where they will read the stories of lives and characters transformed by the
challenges of the sea. Aboard the ship, which is listed on the National Historic Register, students
will also learn some basic elements of seamanship and navigation, and possibly learn to sail a small
craft. In addition to sailing, the ship will put in at various ports of call for time ashore in the
islands. We will be onboard for ten days, and have class time on campus before and after the
voyage.
Credits: 4 (see gray insert)
Graded: A-F
Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor
Max. Enrollment: 18
Est. Cost: $ 2,875 - $ 2,975
Est. Add’l Meal Cost: $ 75
Red. Immunizations: TBA - Fall
Est. Immun. Cost: See Page 4
English 239: Dramatic Greece
INSTRUCTORS: Mark Muggli (English); Carol Gilbertson
(Emerita – English)
Course Description: This course will explore the history of
theater’s birthplace and its fifth-century role by studying Classical
Greek plays, theater sites, and other cultural and natural settings.
We will read such plays as Agamemnon, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Trojan Women, and Lysistrata
and will perform scenes in the very spots where they were performed – the Theater of Dionysuis in
Athens and theaters in Delphi and
Epidaurus – or where their mythical stories are set – such as Mycenae with its beehive tombs and
Tiryns with its Cyclopean rocks. We will not only study the great sites of Greek antiquity – the
Acropolis, the Parthenon, Olympia – and walk in their landscapes, but will also visit cultural sites
like Corinth (where St. Paul preached to the Corinthians) and the beautiful Renaissance city of
Nauplion. The course will explore how we make new the cultural traditions we inherit. (Substitutes
for Classics 299.)
Credits: 4 (see gray insert)
Graded: A-F
Prerequisites: Consent of Instructors
Max. Enrollment: 10 - 16
Est. Cost: $ 4,375 - $ 4,575
Est. Add’l Meal Cost: $ 500
Rec. Immunizations: TBA - Fall
Est. Immun. Cost: See page 4
English 239: Tolkien and Lewis in Context (England / France)
INSTRUCTORS: David Faldet (English); Rachel Faldet (English)
Course Description: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were both orphaned
as children, saw their childhood village swallowed by a city, studied
language and literature at Oxford, became military casualties in France,
taught and lived in Oxford, collaborated in writing, discussed faith, and
created their own mythologies of places where the sacred is threatened by
the spread of evil. Our travels will follow the lives of these two writers
from childhoods in Northern Ireland and Birmingham, to England’s national center of London, to the
battlefields of France, and back to the city they most loved (Oxford) to see how and why
urbanization, mechanized war, disenchantment, and ideas of heroism figure in their work.
Credits: 4 (see gray insert)
Est. Cost: $ 3,675 - $ 3,975
Graded: A-F
Prerequisites: Consent of Instructors
Max. Enrollment: 20
Est. Add’l Meal Cost: $ 500
Rec. Immunizations: TBA - Fall
Est. Immun. Cost: See page 4