Novels, music, dance, dress, paintings, films, and cartoons serve as a primary sources from which to learn about the diversity and vivacity of contemporary African peoples. Fulfills A&L requirement, IC & GP multicultural requirements.
Introduces modern US folklore, including popular narratives, legends, rituals, ethnic and gender stereotypes, carnivalesque events, fan cultures, subcultures, DIY, and the commodification of youth culture. Special focus on how people may use mass culture to create new, personal, and sometimes subversive meanings. Fulfills A&L requirement, IP & US multicultural requirements
This course considers the period often considered the most “magical” historical period, the Middle Ages. We’ll examine rituals, spells, magical creatures such as elves and fairies, and the ways in which magic reflects the medieval understanding of the universe. Along the way we’ll look at the medieval and magical origins of Hallowe’en and Christmas, and finally at the legacies (or not) of medieval magic such as Wicca and modern magic. Fulfills A&L requirement.
An introduction to contemporary folklore studies, with emphasis on the meanings of stories, rituals, festivals, body art, subcultures, the supernatural, street art, Internet folklore, and other forms of vernacular expression. Fulfills A&L requirement, IP & US multicultural requirements.
