Folklore & Mythology Courses 2012-2013
Harvard University Course Catalog (main page)
2012-2013 FAS Courses of Instruction
Folklore & Mythology section in 2012-2013 catalog
These courses can be counted for concentration credit.
* A star before a course title indicates that the instructor must consent to a student's enrollment by signing the study card.
FOLKLORE & MYTHOLOGY COURSES
Tutorials in Folklore and Mythology
Primarily for Undergraduates
Please note that Culture and Belief 16 (formerly Folklore and Mythology 100). Performance, Tradition and Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Folklore and Mythology is required for the concentration.
[Culture and Belief 16 (formerly Folklore and Mythology 100). Performance, Tradition and Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Folklore and Mythology]
Catalog Number: 6753
Stephen A. Mitchell (Germanic Languages and Literatures; Folklore and Mythology)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
Examines major forms of folklore (e.g., myths, legends, epics, beliefs, rituals, festivals) and the theoretical approaches used in their study. Analyzes how folklore shapes national, regional, and ethnic identities, as well as daily life; considers the function of folklore within the groups that perform and use it, employing materials drawn from a wide range of areas (e.g., South Slavic oral epics, American occupational lore, Northern European ballads, witchcraft in Africa and America, Cajun Mardi Gras).
Note: Expected to be given in 2013-2014. Required of Concentrators and for the Secondary Field in Folklore and Mythology. This course fulfills the requirement that one of the eight General Education courses also engages substantially with Study of the Past. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts C.
[*Folklore and Mythology 90h. Hero and Trickster]
Catalog Number: 18681 Enrollment: Limited to 12. For undergraduates only.
Deborah D. Foster
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Human imagination has conjured two enduring mythic characters that create habitable worlds for people in stories from cultures all over the world. Sometimes branded Hero, sometimes Trickster, these two share traits and antics, yet they seem to endorse fundamentally different values. This seminar examines both hero and trickster in several cultural contexts, comparing them with each other and with their correlates worldwide, primarily in oral traditions, but also where each has migrated to other media.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
*Folklore and Mythology 90i (formerly Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 27). Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature
Catalog Number: 4852 Enrollment: Limited to 28.
Maria Tatar
Half course (spring term). W. 2-4, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
FIRST MEETING: Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall
Regular meeting room: Sever 106
Traces the migration of traditional tales from communal storytelling circles into the literary culture of childhood and into new media. How are powerful cultural myths about innocence and seduction, monstrosity and compassion, or hospitality and hostility recycled in fairy-tale fashion? How do fantasy worlds - both utopian and dystopic - provide children with portals for exploring counterfactuals and worst-case scenarios? Authors include the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Lewis Carroll, J.M. Barrie, and J.K. Rowling.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for either Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding or Culture and Belief, but not both. This course fulfills the requirement that one of the eight General Education courses also engage substantially with Study of the Past. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts A.
*Folklore and Mythology 91r. Supervised Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 2425
Deborah D. Foster and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Instruction and direction of reading on material not treated in regular courses of instruction; special work on topics in folklore, mythology, and oral literature. Normally available only to concentrators in Folklore and Mythology.
Note: Applicants must consult the Chairman or the Head Tutor of the Committee. The signature of the Chairman or the Head Tutor is required.
*Folklore and Mythology 96r. Senior Projects
Catalog Number: 70593
Deborah D. Foster and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Designed for seniors completing their (non-thesis) senior project to meet the requirement for the concentration’s senior project option. Students must secure the written approval for the project from the faculty member with whom they wish to work as well as the signature of the Head Tutor. May be repeated with the permission of the Head Tutor.
*Folklore and Mythology 97. Fieldwork and Ethnography in Folklore
Catalog Number: 3789 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Deborah D. Foster
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Introduces concentrators to the study of traditions - their performance, collection, representation and interpretation. Both ethnographic and theoretical readings serve as the material for class discussion and the foundation for experimental fieldwork projects.
Note: Required of all, and limited to, concentrators.
*Folklore and Mythology 98a. History and Theory of Folklore and Mythology
Catalog Number: 5039
Maria Tatar
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
The development of folklore and mythology as fields of study, with particular attention to the methodological approaches suited to their areas of enquiry. Attends to the study of folklore and mythology in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but focuses especially on theoretical contributions to the study of folklore, mythology, and oral literature in recent decades. Stories will be paired with methodologies.
Note: Required of all, and limited to, concentrators.
*Folklore and Mythology 98b. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 3685
Deborah D. Foster and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of all concentrators. The signature of the Head Tutor or Chairman of the Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology required. Normally taken in the second term of the junior year.
*Folklore and Mythology 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 3886
Deborah D. Foster and members of the Committee
Full course. Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of all thesis writers. The signature of the Head Tutor or Chairman of the Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology required. Graded Sat/Unsat.
For Undergraduates and Graduates
Please consult our cross-listings for other courses that may be counted for Folklore & Mythology concentration credit. Interested freshmen in particular should be aware of Freshman Seminar 32s. The Twilight of the Gods: Ragnarök and the Apocalyptic Tradition, and Freshman Seminar 32v. The Art of Storytelling. Upperclassmen should be aware of Literature 162. Theory and Methods in Comparative Oral Traditions: Seminar; Religion 17. Myth in History: An Introduction to Religion and to the Study of Religion; Religion 18. Realms of Power: Animals in Religion I; Indian Studies 219. Introduction to World Mythology; and others taught by Folklore & Mythology committee members.
*Folklore and Mythology 114. Embodied Expression/Expressive Body: Dance in Cultural Context
Catalog Number: 7982 Enrollment: Limited to 16.
Deborah D. Foster
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3:30. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16, 17
An examination of the ways in which the dancing body internalizes and communicates cultural knowledge to both dancer and observer. By participating in dance workshops, watching dance performances (live and on film), and reading ethnographic and theoretical texts, we attempt to understand the emergent meaning of dance performances from multiple perspectives.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief and the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts B.
*Folklore and Mythology 167. Charms, Rituals and Speech Acts: Theories of Magic in Performance - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 69831 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Stephen A. Mitchell
Half course (fall term). F., 10–12. EXAM GROUP: 3, 4
Examines charm magic, an utterance simultaneously a command, an appeal, an embodiment of belief, a literary form, a reference to tradition, and a window onto the past. Using all available resources (e.g., charm texts, trial records, material evidence of magical practices) in analyzing the heterologous European magical materials, this course examines the vexed history of ’magic’ as a scholarly category, theories of magic, and historical evidence of charm magic, with an emphasis on northern Europe.
[Folklore and Mythology 170. Folk Art in the Modern World]
Catalog Number: 1278
Felicity A. Lufkin
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Folk art is a world-wide phenomenon, with a lasting importance to modern culture and to national identities. But what are the commonalities and variations in how folk art is defined, what types are prized, and how is it studied, perpetuated, and preserved?
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[Folklore and Mythology 171. Chinese New Year Pictures: Folk Art and Visual Culture]
Catalog Number: 0485
Felicity A. Lufkin
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
The colorful woodcut prints now commonly known as New Year pictures or nianhua are one of China’s best known folk arts, thriving into the 20th c. We will look at how these prints were made and distributed, the roles they played in everyday life, and what they can tell us about the interactions of high and low, rural and urban, and tradition and modernity within Chinese culture and art.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
Folklore and Mythology 172. Quilts and Quiltmaking
Catalog Number: 33788
Felicity A. Lufkin
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Are quilts the great American (folk) art? From intricately stitched whole-cloth quilts, to the improvisational patchworks of Gee’s Bend; from the graphic simplicity of Amish quilts to the cozy pastels of depression-era quilts; from the Aids Quilt to art quilts; quilts have taken on extraordinary significance in American culture. This class surveys the evolution of quilt-making as a social practice, considering the role of quilts in articulations of gender, ethnic, class and religious identities, and their positions within discourses of domesticity, technology, consumerism, and cultural hierarchy.
Folklore and Mythology 174. Chinese Folk Arts: The Ephemeral and the Intangible
Catalog Number: 81667
Felicity A. Lufkin
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. Location: Warren House 102. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Many of the most significant forms of Chinese folk art are ephemeral — fragile, fleeting, destroyed by use — yet endlessly re-imagined and recreated. How do the makers and users of these art forms understand them, and how is their meaning shaped by process and context? How can the intangible knowledge, skills, and social spaces on which these arts depend be preserved and protected?
*Folklore and Mythology 191r. Supervised Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 3255
Deborah D. Foster and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Advanced reading in topics not covered in regular courses.
