The following are two course descriptions that I recently submitted for one-credit courses in the Master of Liberal Studies degree at St. Norbert College. I have agreed to offer both but also to accept the program director's decision about which one to choose if only one is offered. Just out of curiosity, I am wondering if viewers of this blog would be interested in both courses, even though only one is explicitly blog--related. Responses can be made right here on the blog or you can email me at robert.boyer@snc.edu.
Sundays in Manila as Travel Memoir
Reading and discussing Sundays in Manila (Robert H. Boyer,
University of the Philippines Press, 2011), will provide an example of travel
writing with a focus on the Philippines.
Students will learn about the literary form of travel writing and have
the opportunity of writing a short personal travel narrative. At the same time they will become acquainted
with the author’s discovery of a second homeland in the Philippines, along with
his observations about the country that the U.S. defeated (1898-1902), colonized
(1902-1946), fought side-by-side with (1941-1945), and has now joined with as a
major ally and link to Southeast Asia.
Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Ancient and Modern
Tolkien’s The Hobbit received modest attention when
it appeared in England in 1937, but it was about to ignite the enormous popularity
of fantasy literature that continues today for readers of all ages. In fact it helped to return fantasy
literature to its proper place in the literary mainstream where it belongs. It drew upon the traditional ingredients of
myth, epic, medieval romance, and faery tales, what Tolkien referred to as “the
cauldron of story.” This course will
locate The Hobbit in that earlier
tradition and examine its subsequent influence.
In a short paper students will illustrate some of the ingredients from
the “cauldron.”
