Course Description
A special topic on Celtic literatures, mythology, or culture (for example, Welsh, Irish, Scottish) not otherwise offered in the English curriculum. Topics and instructors may vary from semester to semester.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be responsible for a more extensive
syllabus and for more ambitious and sophisticated research,
analysis, and writing.
Athena Title
CELTIC STUDIES
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students, having read a substantial body of literature, will be able to discuss the assigned works (orally and in writing) with critical appreciation of both their artistry and the socio-cultural contexts in which they were composed, to reread them with pleasure, and to read and enjoy other works from the period and culture.
Topical Outline
The choice and sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester. The topics, through examination of early and medieval literature, will focus on one or more of the Celtic cultures. The literature will be read in translation outside of class and discussed in class, examined individually and comparatively in the context of the times and the circumstances of their composition. Periodically during the semester, students will perform a number of graded tasks, including some combination of tests and out-of-class papers. A possible series of topics and assignments might resemble this: Literature of Medieval Wales (including The Gododdin, Taliesin, Gildas, the Mabinogion, Geoffrey of Monmouth) Early Irish Literature (including Tain, "The Second Battle of Mag Tured," "The Wooing of Etain," "Bricriu's Feast," "The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne") Arthur of the Welsh (including "Spoils of Annwfn," "Culhwch and Olwen," "The Dream of Rhonabwy," various saints' Lives, "Peredur," "Gereint," "Owein")
Syllabus