College Seminar (101-7-20)

Topic

The Trial & the Quest

Instructors

Cynthia Nyree Nazarian
847/491-8270
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-137

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-425: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

Knights, battles, monsters and marvels; these are the building blocks of adventure tales. This first-year seminar explores heroes and the tests they face, the journeys they pursue, and the ways in which adversity and accident shape them. What is a hero? Are heroes born, or must they be made? What are the lessons of failure and self-delusion that the quest teaches? Beginning with the Song of Roland, we will examine epic, Arthurian romance and comic parodies of knightly genres in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and then turn to contemporary film to trace the ways in which modern fantasy and superhero adventures raise old questions and provide new answers to the challenges of the hero's self-defining mission.

Class Materials (Required)

• Anonymous, The Song of Roland. (Trans. Glyn Burgess) New York: Penguin, 1990. ISBN : 978-0140445329

• Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote. (Trans. John Rutherford) New York: Penguin, 2000. ISBN: 978-0142437230

Class Attributes

WCAS College Seminar