- to introduce students to major works of world literature
written from ancient times to early modern, with special on the 
relevance of these texts, however old, to contemporary society 
around the world; 
- to help students situate those works within larger historical
and cultural contexts; 
- to provide students with an understanding of the conventions of
literary composition and reception that inform their creation,
such as conventions of genre, metrics, style, etc.; 
- to improve students' communication skills through oral
presentations in class and expository writing assignments,
including in-class and out-of-class essays. 

Students' performances will be evaluated through a variety of
means, including assessment of oral presentations, objective
tests, essays, and the final examination.

The typical course consists of a series of readings in world
literature written from ancient times to the early modern 
period, with special on the relevance of these texts, however 
old, to contemporary society around the world. The topics 
considered are generated by the specific work under analysis. 
(The question of writing systems and the preservation of 
literary works, for example, is germane to the study of 
Gilgamesh.) The works treated will vary with the instructor. The 
following is a sample syllabus of readings for a single semester:

Gilgamesh Homer.  The Iliad (selections)
Confucius.  Analects (selections)
Ramayana. (selections)
Virgil.  The Aeneid (selections)
Murasaki.  The Tale of Genji (selections)
Ishaq.  The Biography of the Prophet (selections)
Boccaccio.  The Decameron (selections)
Cervantes.  Don Quijote (selections)
Milton.  Paradise Lost (selections)

Students are required to abide by the University of Georgia academic honesty policy.