Room 272

Here is a preliminary course description for EH311:

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

This course will introduce students to Chaucer in the original language; no prior knowledge of Middle English is required. We will concentrate on linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural aspects of Chaucer’s poetry. Our reading will include selections from the Tales, The Book of the Duchess, and some secondary material. Assignments will include response papers, three exams (including the final), a short critical paper, and a brief presentation and bibliography.

I will be teaching two courses this fall at South: EH 311 (an introductory course on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales) and EH 490/590, section 502 (a graduate/undergraduate seminar on “Tolkien’s Middle Ages”). When I complete syllabi for these courses, I will post them here and on the appropriate pages linked to the left.

Here is a preliminary course description for 490/590:

Tolkien’s Middle Ages

Most know J. R. R. Tolkien as one of the most popular writers of the Twentieth Century, but he was also a medievalist of great distinction. In this course we will explore the interaction between Tolkien’s fictional and scholarly worlds by reading deeply in both. Our reading will fall into three main categories: 1) Tolkien’s medieval and modern source texts, including Beowulf, The Kalevala, The Poetic Edda, The Saga of the Volsungs, and others; 2) Tolkien’s scholarship; and 3) Tolkien’s fiction, including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Assignments will likely include a presentation, response papers, two short critical papers, and a bibliographical research project.

The original course description, sent out to the graduate students last spring, encouraged students to read the Tolkien books over the summer in order to make the reading load manageable this fall. However, the graduate director pointed out to me that not everyone would see the course description before registering, so I will be trimming the ambitions of the reading load somewhat.

Department of English – University of South Alabama

. . . has refreshed its website with a new look. Please take a moment to browse.

This site is primarily for the use of my students and colleagues at the University of South Alabama. Syllabi, assignments, advice, general reflections, and helpful links will be posted here. My students should check for updates regularly. I will be posting syllabi and other information for the fall 2006 semester soon.