This first-year foundation course explores the intricate relationship between medieval-themed fantasy literature and modern war. Drawing on the works of several of the most prolific 20th-century fantasy authors, it examines how the experience of global conflicts shaped the creation of secondary worlds informed by the Middle Ages in the works of such authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, and George R.R. Martin. This course provides important scholarly and cultural context for studying these works in relation to warfare and medievalism in fantasy literature. In so doing, it explores the complex relationship between real-life conflict and literature that has continued to shape popular culture to the present day. Topics will include: art and patronage, rhetoric and ritual, controversial restoration, and the Sistine Chapel in popular culture—with an emphasis on the close analysis of the major frescoes. The seminar will develop the academic skills needed for the analysis and discussion of texts, paintings, and ritual events. This seminar introduces students to the growing academic field of game studies, with an emphasis on close analysis of specific games as cultural objects. Through lectures, discussions, and in-class play sessions, students will build a critical vocabulary and toolbox of techniques for understanding the unique formal, aesthetic, narrative, and thematic properties of games in a variety of platforms and genres, and develop basic academic reading, writing, and research skills. No previous experience or expertise with video games is required to take this course.
This first-year foundation course explores the intricate relationship between medieval-themed fantasy literature and modern war. Drawing on the works of several of the most prolific 20th-century fantasy authors, it examines how the experience of global conflicts shaped the creation of secondary worlds informed by the Middle Ages in the works of such authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, and George R.R. Martin. This course provides important scholarly and cultural context for studying these works in relation to warfare and medievalism in fantasy literature. In so doing, it explores the complex relationship between real-life conflict and literature that has continued to shape popular culture to the present day. Topics will include: art and patronage, rhetoric and ritual, controversial restoration, and the Sistine Chapel in popular culture—with an emphasis on the close analysis of the major frescoes. The seminar will develop the academic skills needed for the analysis and discussion of texts, paintings, and ritual events. This seminar introduces students to the growing academic field of game studies, with an emphasis on close analysis of specific games as cultural objects. Through lectures, discussions, and in-class play sessions, students will build a critical vocabulary and toolbox of techniques for understanding the unique formal, aesthetic, narrative, and thematic properties of games in a variety of platforms and genres, and develop basic academic reading, writing, and research skills. No previous experience or expertise with video games is required to take this course.
