ENGL 165 - Introduction to the Myths of the World

Credits: 5
Introduces the concepts of mythology with an overview of significant world myths-western and non-western, ancient and modern, oral and textual. Explores myths thematically and critically, addressing such aspects as identity, gender, religion and spirituality, ecological concerns, political and social structures. Discusses major critical approaches including psychological, structural, anthropological, literary, and indigenous theories for interpreting myth.

Enrollment Requirement: Eligible for ENGL 99 or instructor consent.

Satisfies Requirement: Humanities/Fine Arts/English and Diversity
Course Fee: $2.00

Course Outcomes:
Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:

Identify world myths comparatively in many forms.
Comprehend the integral nature of myth in all cultures.
Discuss how mythic structures influence attitudes towards ethnicity, gender, sexuality, the relationship of the individual to the community, a peoples spirituality and religion, ecology, and other significant aspects of any culture.
Discuss multiple Interpretations of living myths, including their meanings as seen from within a culture versus from the outside.
Apply critical thinking and reading skills to the study of myth.
Comprehend the significance of myth in literature and art.
Write responses to literature.
Critically reflect through discussion.

Program Outcomes
Students will demonstrate college-level reading skills by summarizing, analyzing, interpreting, synthesizing, and evaluating college texts; and develop an awareness of the approaches writers use for different audiences, genres, and rhetorical situations.

College-wide Outcomes

Critical Thinking - Critical thinking finds expression in all disciplines and everyday life. It is characterized by an ability to reflect upon thinking patterns, including the role of emotions on thoughts, and to rigorously assess the quality of thought through its work products. Critical thinkers routinely evaluate thinking processes and alter them, as necessary, to facilitate an improvement in their thinking and potentially foster certain dispositions or intellectual traits over time.