Course Detail

CLC 106 Classical Mythology

CLC 106 IS Sec 2, University of Mississippi
[See UM Catalog for Description]

3 credit hours

Instructor Information:

Instructor name:
Dr. Jonathan Fenno

Instructor Information:
Dr. Jonathan Fenno is an Associate Professor of Classics.

• SPECIAL INTERESTS: Greek and Latin Poetry, Greek Religion, Ancient Athletics, Romans in Cinema
• DISSERTATION: Poet, Athletes, and Heroes: Theban and Aeginetan Identity in Pindar's Aeginetan Odes
• DEGREES IN CLASSICS: Ph.D., UCLA; M.A., UCLA; B.A., Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota

Email: jfenno@olemiss.edu

The best way to contact me is by email, which you are encouraged to send at any time or on any day. I will respond as soon as I am able.

Use your university email account — which must be actively working during the term. Please include the course name (Clc106 iStudy) and your name in any message.

normally read, comment on, and grade student journals on the weekend and/or at the end of each unit. Grading of papers may take a week or so.

Contact Information:

If you have questions concerning the content of the course, you may contact the instructor directly using the Email Your Instructor link in the Lessons or Content page. NOTE: Whenever sending email, please be sure to indicate your course title and number in the subject line. You can expect a response within 72 hours, although it may be longer on weekends. Many instructors reply within 24 hours.

For lesson or test administration issues, please contact the iStudy department:

Course Description

This course introduces the academic study of Classical Mythology, enabling students to gain broad knowledge of the divine myths and heroic legends popular in ancient Greece and Rome.

Textbook Information:

Textbook information will be provided upon enrollment in your iStudy course.

Course Objectives:

Major objectives:

1. You will have the opportunity to write brief reaction papers and post them as journal entries, discussing assigned readings or on-line presentations.
2. After reading assigned chapters in the textbook and watching on-line presentations, you must take six on-line tests, as well as a proctored midterm and final exam, on which you will do the following:
   • identify key attributes of all the major gods/goddesses and heroes/heroines, including their miraculous birth and death, unique powers, famous deeds, and relationships with family, friends, and enemies;
   • recognize these divine and heroic figures by their iconographical attributes in ancient art, especially vase painting and sculpture;
   • locate on a map the actual places with which they are most closely associated.
3. You will have the opportunity to apply your acquired knowledge of Classical Mythology by writing a complex, two-part paper on a mythical figure of your own choosing.
   • In the first part of this paper, you will create a new myth, organizing its elements into traditional structures (by imagining that you have discovered an ancient manuscript of a lost Homeric Hymn).
   • In the second part, you will analyze your newly “discovered” myth, identifying typical or atypical motifs and themes by comparison with specific known myths;
   • you will also interpret the meaning of their new myth, employing duly cited ancient and modern theories about the various functions of myth in religion and society.

Course Outline:

This course consists of 25 instructional modules (chapters) spread over 6 units.

You MUST complete the syllabus quiz as soon as you have access to your Blackboard course. This is mandatory to verify your attendance.

*NOTE: you must pass the Syllabus and Orientation Quiz for the course materials to appear on the Lessons page.

Grading:

GRADING SCALE:
90 - 100% = A
80 - 89% = B
70 - 79% = C
60 - 69% = D
Below 59% = F

GRADING INFORMATION:

The grading allocation is as follows:
1a. On-line Tests 1–6 (Best 5 of 6: 5% each) = 25%
1b. Practice Tests 1–6 (Best 5 of 6: 1% each) = 5%
2a. Proctored Midterm Exam: Units 1–3 = 20%
2b. Proctored Final Exam: Units 4–6 = 20%
3. (Optional) Paper: Hymn & Commentary = 18% *
4. (Optional) Journals: Units 1–3 (One Journal per Unit: 4% each) = 12%*

*All writing assignments in this course, Paper and Journals (items #3 & #4 above), will be treated as an optional bonus. That is, they could potentially increase your Test & Exam average, but never lower it. Any Journal or Paper completed will earn a raw score according to the grading rubric. Before the end of the course this raw score will be converted to a percentage grade. If that percentage is higher than your average on Tests and Practice Tests (Best 5 of 6) and Exams (i.e., weighted average of items #1 & #2 above), then it will be applied to your final grade in the course. If not, then your Test & Exam average will be applied instead. Any optional assignment not completed will not earn a zero, but will instead be replaced by your Test & Exam average.

FAILURE TO TAKE THE FINAL EXAM WILL RESULT IN FAILURE OF THE COURSE.

You must submit the lessons required to take the course exam(s). Lessons required but not submitted will receive a grade of zero. For the final exam, all coursework must be submitted and graded.