Schedule
Note: This schedule is subject to change. Several entries will be completed, and reading materials will be added over the course of the semester.
Week 1: Startup
- August 8: First day of classes. Introduction to the course.
Week 2: George MacDonald, Phantastes
- 11: Read Phantastes pp. 1-118 (Chapters 1-9)
- 13: Read Phantastes pp. 118-225 (Chapters 10-18)
- 15: Read Phantastes pp. 118 (Chapters 1-9)
Week 3: Background Inspirations
- 18: Presentations on Celtic Mythology and Faerie
- 20: Class cancelled
- 22: Lecture by Dr. Nickolas Haydock
Week 4: William Morris, The Wood Beyond the World
- 25: Presentations on Norse and Welsh Mythology.
- 27: Presentation on The Matter of Britain. Read The Wood Beyond the World, Chapters 1-10.
- 29: Presentation on The Arthurian Legends. Read The Wood Beyond the World, Chapters 11-15.
Week 5: William Morris, The Wood Beyond the World
- September 1: Holiday - Labor Day
- 3: Read The Wood Beyond the World, Chapters 16-24.
- 5: Read The Wood Beyond the World, Chapters 25-36. William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Week 6: E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros
- 8: E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros, Chapters 1-11.
- 10: E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros, Chapters 11-22
- 12: Class cancelled.
Week 7: Lord Dunsay, The King of Elfland’s Daughter
- 15: E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros, Chapters 23-33
- 17: Lord Dunsay, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Chapters 1-9
- 19: Lord Dunsay, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Chapters 10-18
Week 8: Defining the Genre
- 21: Lord Dunsay, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Chapters 19-34
- 24: Midterm Exam handed out.
- 26: Midterm Exam due.
Week 9: Welcome to Middle Earth
- 29:Intro to Tolkien. Read “Leaf by Niggle.” Essay #1 due.
- October 1: Read The Hobbit, Chapters 1-3
- 3: Read The Hobbit, Chapters 4-6
Week 10: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
- 6: Read The Hobbit, Chapters 7-10
- 8: Read The Hobbit, Chapters 11-14
- 10: Read The Hobbit, Chapters 15-19
Week 11: The Inklings
- 13: Holiday - Dia de la Raza
- 15: “On Fairy-Stories.” (See main blog for link to reading material.)
- 17: Read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapters 1-5
Week 12: C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- 20: Read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapters 6-11
- 22: Read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapters12-16
- 24: Class cancelled.
Week 13: American Fantasy Writers
- 27: Presentations on Robert E. Howard and James Branch Cabell
- 29: Presentations on Roger Zelasny and Michael Moorcock
- 31:
Week 14: Archetypal Criticism
- November 3: General Election Recess - No classes
- 5: Recess - No classes
- 6 (Thursday): Last day to drop classes.
- 7: Presentations on Evangeline Walton and Patricia A. McKillip.
- Read the following materials:
Week 15: Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
- 10: The Monomyth
- Read the following text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces
- View the following videos:
- Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: Part 1 (about 60 minutes long, but very important!)
- The Matrix - Joseph Campbell Monomyth
- Watch either The Matrix, Star Wars (Episode 4), or Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Not for Thursday, but ASAP).
- 12: Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, Chapters 1-5
- 14: Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, Chapters 6-10
Week 16: Samuel R. Delany, Tales of Neveryon
- 17: Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism, including the links on the principles of Tao, De, Wu Wei, and Pu.
- 19: Holiday - Discovery of Puerto Rico
- 21: Read http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/derrida/rorty.html
Week 17: Samuel R. Delany, Tales of Neveryon
- 24: Samuel R. Delany, “The Tale of Gorgik”
- 26: Samuel R. Delany, “The Tale of Old Venn,”
- 28: Thanksgiving Recess
Week 18: Contemporary Fantasy
- December 1: Samuel R. Delany, “The Tale of Small Sarg,”
- 3: Samuel R. Delany, “The Tale of Potters and Dragons,”
- 5: Samuel R. Delany, “The Tale of Dragons and Dreamers.”
Week 1: Shutdown
- 8: Last day of class. Final Essay due.