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Summer Classical
Mythology (not) at
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Updated 22 May 2008
In Summer 2008 I will offer Classical Mythology completely online. This presents its own opportunities and problems. Students will not have to attend class meetings, but they will need to be self-disciplined. This will be task-oriented study, meaning that students will have a number of assignments to be completed each week that will be sent to me by e-mail. There will be discussion available through a listserv and a Blackboard component. Please note that the course will be interesting and enjoyable, but it will also involve a fair amount of reading. Do not take this course unless you have a fair amount of discipline and self-motivation. Do take it if you would like a very rewarding educational experience in which you actively participate.
How will the course work? Students will read the textbook Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (5th edition, McGraw Hill), by Harris and Platzner. Please get the 5th edition, even if you find a cheaper copy of the 3rd or 4th. This textbook has its own website which contains study pages and interactive, self-correcting quizzes. There will be also assigned a few brief readings available over the internet (see below). Students will complete the exercises at the textbook web site and email them to me. Students will also be asked to write four short papers. Note that I also have a myth web site with many study guides and links to other resources.
Grading and Requirements:
Blackboard and listserv
This course will be organized with Temple's Blackboard system. There you will find your grades, study guides, and other course materials. You will need a Temple email address for this; if you do not have one, please apply for one here. I will have set Blackboard to autoenroll, so if you have a Temple account you will be able to enter the course site immediately.
The week before classes start you will receive an email informing you that you are enrolled to the class listserv, mytholl. I will send out notes and comments over the listserv, and you should use it for questions, problems and discussion. Send messages to mytholl@listserv.temple.edu.
Technical requirements. Students will need access to a computer with an Internet connection, preferably broadband (DSL or cable modem). A 56k modem will work, but the website for the textbook might prove too slow without broadband (try the link in the previous paragraph to check for yourself). Consider using university labs or your local public library if you do not have broadband at home
Potential technical problems: The textbook's web site sometimes has difficulty functioning with certain configurations of anti-virus software and firewalls. If you find you cannot send your results to me, please first try temporarily disabling those functions. A more immediate fix often is simply quitting your browser and restarting it, since the quizzes are Java-dependent and browser that has been open for a prolonged time can have Java problems.
This schedule should be followed as closely as you can. Papers will be due by specific dates, but your weekly work (the online tests) should be done roughly each week on a continuing basis. If you would like to start before 5/16, please go ahead. I will still record any work you do and respond to any questions you have.
For each week's reading you will find in Blackboard under Course Documents some notes and comments on the week's reading. Discussion may take place on the listserv at any time.
Note that I have laid out the schedule as if this were a regular class during the summer (i.e. one chapter per class meeting). Use this rhythm to guide your own work (i.e. don't do it all at once on the weekend.) Procrastination could be disastrous, since all work must be completed by Friday at noon, June 29th, but you may complete the course work early if that suits you. Note also that in order to discourage procrastination I am requiring that the quizzes through Chapter 5 be completed by June 1st and Chapter 15 by June 15th; otherwise, you will not receive credit for those unit quizzes. No excuses. (Note the schedule below has been adjusted to reflect the late arrival of the textbook).
Paper due dates are in red below, and additional information in green.
How to use the textbook website in this course:
For each chapter, I have provided below a direct link to the appropriate web page. Before you read, choose the appropriate chapter and read the Learning Objectives to guide your reading. The "Glossary" can be read and the "Flashcards" studied before or after you study the chapter.
After reading the chapter carefully, return to the relevant web page and click on "Multiple Choice Quiz" on the left. In order to receive full credit for that chapter, you must submit the results to me, once you have scored at least 70%. To maximize the educational value, it is important that you close your book while completing the exercises. Retake the tests until you achieve the %70 threshold. Once you feel you are ready to submit results to me, fill in the bottom of the results page with my email address (robin@temple.edu) and your own. Your score will not affect your grade; this is pass-fail. I will record your fulfillment of the work in the Blackboard gradebook.
Important note: the key part of each chapter are the primary readings at the end. The body of the chapters are introductory and supplementary to those readings.
May 19-25: Part I The Nature and Function of Myth
May 26-June 1 Part II: Epic Myths and the Heroic Quest
June 2-8
June 9-15
Part III: Tragic Heroes and Heroines
June 16-23
June 23-27