Ancient Epic Poetry

Catalog description

Admission to this course is by application only. It is a collaboration between Penn and Yale-NUS in Singapore. It will require travel to study in Singapore during Penn's Spring Break 2019. Seminars on both campuses will focus on five complete epics, Gilgamesh, the Iliad, Odyssey, Ramayana, and Aeneid. In addition to regular class times, it will also require additional evening meetings for plenary sessions via teleconference with Singapore. We will work with a mix of lectures, discussions, and group work with teams drawn from both campuses. Yale-NUS will travel to Philadelphia to join Penn students in face-to-face class sessions, and in additional cultural of events, at Penn and in Philadelphia, including work in the Penn Museum. Penn students will also fly over to meet Yale-NUS students for a week that mirrors the Philadelphia experience, with attendance in classes, and cultural events, including the Asian Civilizations Museum. Part of the expectation for the class is that each group will help host the others as they visit. Course grades will consist in a combination of sole-authored papers and collaborative projects. There will be a limited amount of grant money available to subvene travel for students. We will work with financial aid to determine need. Up-to-date passports are required for the course.