Course Description
The Wesleyan Seminar is an immersion into liberal arts education. Within each seminar, you learn how to identify complex problems and issues, consult expert sources, question assumptions, consider disparate points of view, develop complex personal positions, and present conclusions. The three seminars (WES 100, WES 200, and WES 300) are increasingly sophisticated in their approach and expectations. Seminars are not merely places where knowledge is imparted, but where knowledge is exchanged and created. To successfully complete a seminar, you need to engage actively with the course material, professor, and your classmates. As a community of learners, we will work together to explore and consider our topic from a number of different perspectives. Each person’s participation is crucial.
This course is designed to investigate the role of myths and rituals in our lives. We will explore all forms of myths, from the well-known stories of ancient cultures to the contemporary tales we see acted out in our own lives. Likewise, we will examine all types of rituals, from those used by religions around the world to those used by people in seemingly non-religious situations. We will consider if myths and rituals are related, and if so how; how they function to create meaning and significance in our lives; and what they say about those who tell them, perform them, or just consider them important.
Goals
By the end of the semester, you should:
⇒ … be familiar with the concepts of “myth” and “ritual”;
⇒ … have a basic vocabulary for the reading, interpreting, and evaluating of myth and ritual; and
⇒ … be able to decipher the presence and role of myths and rituals in everyday human behavior.
Because this course is being taught as a WES100 course, you are also expected to meet the Association of American Colleges & Universities [AAC&U] milestone level 2 standards:
⇒ “[An] [i]ssue / problem to be considered critically is stated [by you] but [your] description may leave some terms undefined, ambiguities unexplored, boundaries undetermined, and/or backgrounds unknown”;
⇒ “Information is taken [by you] from source(s) with some interpretation / evaluation, but may not be enough to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. Viewpoints of experts are taken [by you] as mostly fact, with at least minimal questioning”;
⇒ [Your work] “[q]uestions some assumptions. Identifies several relevant contexts when presenting a position. [Your assumptions] [m]ay be more of others’ assumptions than one’s own (or vice versa)”;
⇒ [Your] “[s]peciFc position (perspective, thesis / hypothesis) acknowledges different sides of an issue”; and
⇒ [Your] “[c]onclusion is logically tied to information (because information is chosen to fit the desired conclusion); some related outcomes (consequences and implications) are identified clearly.”
Texts & Readings
The following texts have been assigned for this class:
⇒ Gaiman, Neil. Norse Mythology (Gaiman)
⇒ Leeming, David, and Jake Page. Myths, Legends, & Folktales of America: An Anthology (Leeming & Page)
Links to additional materials can be found on the class “Schedule of Readings & Assignments” Web page. [Others may be distributed in class.]
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLETE ALL OF THE READINGS, INCLUDING ANY ON-LINE READINGS OR READINGS DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR FAILURE TO OBTAIN READINGS OR READING ASSIGNMENTS DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS.
Responsibilities & Evaluation
In-Class Participation (10% + 10% + 10% = 30%)
♦ Physical Presence (10%): You are expected to attend all classes. Points in this category will be assessed by dividing the number of classes attended by the total number of classes held.
♦ Basic Participation (10%): You are expected to participate fully in class discussions and engage the materials in class. Regular and thoughtful participation in class will be rewarded in this category; mindless blather will not. In addition, on occasion I may engage you directly in informal conversation about the assigned materials, and you will be evaluated based on your ability to discuss the materials substantively and meaningfully.
♦ Reading Presentation (10%): On any given class day, you may be called upon to introduce the materials that were assigned for that day’s class. (If there was more than one article or chapter assigned, you will be called upon only to introduce one of the readings.) This means that – for every class – you must be prepared to summarize the assigned reading and provide some basic thoughts / reflections on that reading.
Semester Myth & Ritual Project ([15% + 10%] + [15% + 10%] + 20% = 70%)
All of the items on the list below have both myths and rituals associated with them:
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- Black Rock City
- Cinco de Mayo
- Columbus Day
- Curse of the Bambino
- Election Day
- Elvis Presley / Graceland
- Independence Day
- Juneteenth
- Kwanzaa
- Mother’s Day
- National Anthem
- The Pledge of Allegiance
- Saluting the Flag
- September 11
- St. Patrick’s Day
- Thanksgiving
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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For the semester project, you will be assigned one and use it for each of the following parts of the semester-long project.
♦ Part 1. Myth paper, written (15%) and in conversation (10%): On or before the date indicated on the “Schedule of Readings & Assignments,” you will submit a written description of the myths associated with your assigned item. Your paper should be no fewer than 800 words (or approximately 3 pages) long and should contain the following elements: a brief description of your list item, YOUR definition of “myth,” a detailed discussion of any myths associated with your list item, and complete and appropriate citations for all of the information you provide.
Separately, on one of the dates indicated on the “Schedule of Readings & Assignments,” you will schedule a 10-minute conversation with me (in my office) to discuss your myth paper, its contents, and any possible difficulties or conclusions.
NOTE: The purpose of having a “conversation” after you have submitted a preliminary draft is so that we can discuss the paper’s structure, content, and style. Appointments made by students who submit their myth papers less than 48 hours before their scheduled “conversation” times will be cancelled, and zero credit (0%) will be given for this portion of Part 1.
♦ Part 2. Ritual Paper, written (15%) and in conversation (10%): On or before the date indicated on the “Schedule of Readings & Assignments,” you will submit a written description of the rituals associated with your assigned item. Your paper should be no fewer than 800 words (or approximately 3 pages) long and should contain the following elements: a brief introduction (possibly a summary of the description of your assigned item from your myth paper), YOUR definition of “ritual,” a detailed discussion of any rituals associated with your list item, and complete and appropriate citations for all of the information you provide.
Separately, on one of the dates indicated on the “Schedule of Readings & Assignments,” you will schedule a 10-minute conversation with me (in my office) to discuss your ritual paper, its contents, and any possible difficulties or conclusions.
NOTE: The purpose of having a “conversation” after you have submitted a preliminary draft is so that we can discuss the paper’s structure, content, and style. Appointments made by students who submit their ritual papers less than 48 hours before their scheduled “conversation” times will be cancelled, and zero credit (0%) will be given for this portion of Part 2.
♦ Part 3. Final Paper (20%): On or before the date indicated on the “Schedule of Readings & Assignments,” you will submit a final finished version of your “Myth & Ritual” paper. It is expected that this finished paper will be an integration of your myth paper (Part 1) and your ritual paper (Part 2), and should contain the following elements: a brief introduction and description of your list item; a discussion of your definition of “myth” and an examination of the myths associated with your list item; a discussion of your definition of “ritual” and an examination of the rituals associated with your list item; a discussion of possible ways those myths and rituals are related (or not); and complete and appropriate citations for all of the information you provide. It is expected that this final paper will contain no fewer than 2000 words (approximately 6 pages of text plus full and proper citations for all of your sources).
A final paper evaluation rubric will be provided as the semester progresses.
[WES Seminar acknowledgment: This final written assignment will serve as an artifact that can be assessed at a later date. It therefore needs to demonstrate your engagement with the Wesleyan Seminar objectives. (Please see criteria, above). More on this as the semester progresses.]
