2021 Fall

SCANDIN R5B 002 - LEC 002

Reading and Composition

Ghost Stories in Medieval and Modern Scandinavia

Kate Heslop, Isobel Boles

Aug 25, 2021 - Dec 10, 2021

Mo, We, Fr

08:00 am - 08:59 am

Dwinelle 279

Class #:25378

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through Scandinavian

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0

Enrolled: 17

Waitlisted: 0

Capacity: 17

Waitlist Max: 3

No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, and 9 hours of outside work hours per week.

Other classes by Kate Heslop

+ 1 Independent Study

SCANDIN 299 001 001IND

Course Catalog Description

Reading and composition in connection with the representation of Scandinavia by outsiders and insiders. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

This course will examine the various ghosts of Scandinavian narratives and traditions, from draugar, who creep from burial mounds or restlessly roam the sea, to spirits bound to haunt inhabited dwellings. We will move from otherworldly encounters in excerpts from medieval sagas and poems, to instances of ghostly figures in preserved folklore. The second portion of the course will focus on the ghosts of modern literature, symbolic, gothic, or otherwise, in works of Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Karen Blixen, and Selma Lagerlöf. We will end with a look at trends in contemporary fiction involving ghosts as characters or narrators, including links between spirits of the departed and the genre of crime fiction. We will explore what is unique and universal in the Scandinavian ghost; the degree to which horror and the uncanny are combined with comfort, memory, and connections to family and the past in these figures; and the types of places and circumstances that are likely to give rise to ghosts or ghost stories. Students will work on improving their writing style, editing practices, and research techniques in this course. Focus will be placed on becoming comfortable with close reading literary texts, selecting secondary sources, and reading academic articles, with the goal of constructing a research paper based on primary and secondary sources by the end of the course. Required texts: They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein (ISBN-13: 978-1469028613) Readings on bCourses

Class Notes

This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the “A” portion of the Reading & Composition requirement or its equivalent. Students may not enroll in nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

Due to the high demand for R&C courses we monitor attendance very carefully. Attendance is mandatory the first two weeks of classes, this includes all enrolled and wait listed students. If you do not attend all classes the first two weeks you may be dropped. If you are attempting to add into this class during weeks 1 and 2 and did not attend the first day, you will be expected to attend all class meetings thereafter and, if space permits, you may be enrolled from the wait list. show less

Rules & Requirements

Requisites

Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.