historical archetypes and mythology—online

COURSE SYLLABUS
HISTORICAL ARCHETYPES AND MYTHOLOGY—ONLINE
COURSE INFORMATION
Catalog Course Code: HIS 2320
Three-Letter Course Abbreviation: HAM-O
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Historical Archetypes and Mythology Course introduces
students to the connections between history, mythology, and
iconic archetypes, and the influence these relationships have
had on classical and contemporary cultures of the world.
Color symbolism is also explored in order to better appreciate folklores, heroes, and monsters of various cultures. In
addition to composing original myths and stories, students
complete a personal assessment that identifies characteristics of their individual archetypes and use this knowledge to
identify, understand, and relate to mythological characters
and characters of their own creation. The course also enhances students’ ability to analyze and evaluate information.
COURSE MATERIALS
yy World Mythology e-book (3rd edition), Donna Rosenberg,
McGraw-Hill
yy Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator (PMAI)
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will accomplish these course objectives by completing the tasks specified:
yy Recognize and discuss the archetypal elements of world
creation myths
yy Explore the six major archetypal components of most
world creation myths
yy Understand the Cherokee creation myth and identify
the creation myth archetypes it uses
yy Identify and discuss creation myth archetypes in various world myths
yy Become familiar with the twelve possible archetypes
measured by the PMAI
yy Recognize and comprehend the twelve positive and
twelve imbalanced archetypes measured by the PMAI
yy Describe how various characters from mythology embody and manifest these archetypes
yy Find contemporary examples of each of the twelve
archetypes as embodied by figures in politics, sports,
film, books, video games, music, and so forth
yy Take the PMAI and discover personal archetypal
scores and patterns
yy Analyze story arcs in terms of Joseph Campbell’s hero
cycle
yy Learn the three-part hero cycle as theorized by Joseph
Campbell, including the subphases of each of the
three parts
yy Uncover hero-cycle elements in contemporary films
such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and tales
from classical mythology such as The Ramayana and
The Epic of Gilgamesh
yy Demonstrate comprehension of hero-cycle concepts
by identifying these concepts in various classical
myths
yy Classify the characters within a story according to Joseph
Campbell’s six character archetypes
yy Understand Joseph Campbell’s six character archetypes (hero, mentor, companion, trickster,
shape-shifter, and shadow) and connect them to the
influential people in the students’ life
yy Apply knowledge of character archetypes to the
characters of popular films such as Star Wars,
Lord of the Rings, and Avatar
yy Identify and explain the character archetypes in relation to other modern media pieces
yy Apply these archetypes to numerous mythological
hero tales
yy Strengthen the ability to synthesize information and
interact productively with classmates through online discussion boards
yy Respond to a different prompt each week based on
that week’s lesson material
yy Compose an initial post that adheres to reason and
clearly explains their logic in addressing the prompt
Historical Archetypes and Mythology—Online  Course Outcomes
yy Further illuminate or enhance a classmate’s point or
call some element of the classmate’s initial post into
question—always taking care to use nonpersonal, professional language
yy Extend critical thinking and dialogue ignited by the
discussion boards and apply that insight to weekly
assignments
yy Identify and explain the relevance of ancient Asian
mythological beliefs and their cultural contexts to
modern culture and the contemporary industries of
filmmaking and game development
yy Become familiar with ancient Middle Eastern mythology
and the cultures that arose from it
yy Build a broad knowledge base of ancient European mythological cycles and the cultures they arose from
yy Uncover the main mythological figures and stories of
Egyptian mythology and connect these ideas to the
cultural context of the ancient Egyptians
yy Learn the main mythological figures and stories
of Norse, Greek, and Celtic mythologies and connect these ideas to their respective ancient cultural
contexts
yy Research the main mythological figures and stories of
Mesopotamian mythology and connect these ideas
to the cultural context of the ancient Mesopotamian/
Babylonian civilization
yy Identify and discuss the relevance of ancient European
mythological beliefs, their cultural contexts to modern
culture, and the contemporary industries of filmmaking and game development
yy Identify and discuss the relevance of ancient Middle
Eastern mythological beliefs and their cultural contexts
to modern culture and the contemporary industries of
filmmaking and game development
yy Examine ancient Asian mythological cycles and the cultures they arose from
yy Study the main mythological figures and stories of
Indian mythology and Hinduism and connect them to
the cultural context of the Hindu belief system
yy Know the main mythological figures and stories of
Chinese mythology and connect these ideas to the
cultural context of the ancient Chinese
yy Recognize the main mythological figures and stories of
Japanese mythology and Shinto and relate these ideas
to the cultural context of the Shinto belief system and
the indigenous Japanese culture
yy Discuss the basic tenets of Buddhism and how it
evolved from ancient Hindu beliefs
COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
yy Investigate world myth development in both ancient and
contemporary cultures
yy Differentiate mythical, metaphorical, and archetypal concepts as related to film, character creation, and game
story and game character selection
yy Extend individual storytelling skills by means of mythical
stories
yy Create a mythological world using course concepts
yy Demonstrate an understanding of course concepts
through class activities
Historical Archetypes and Mythology—Online  Degree Connection
DEGREE CONNECTION
Historical Archetypes and Mythology is a course designed
to familiarize students with archetypal characters found in
mythic stories. Throughout their chosen degree programs,
students will need to practice and demonstrate effective
storytelling for the cultivation of their own personal and/or
professional brand story. This course provides students with
solid, successful, time-tested storytelling and archetypal
references. Course concepts are rooted in the knowledge of
ancient cultures and their myths and demonstrate how these
myths are constantly observed within the realm of entertainment media. Through the application of these concepts,
students will develop a story-based resource to build upon
and use in subsequent classes, including final projects and
other work. The course curriculum will expand students' ability to effectively communicate through the understanding of
time-tested cultural storytelling and exploration of personal
archetypes that are situationally fluid and evolutionary. After
completing this course, students will continue their core
curriculum as better storytellers while effectively enhancing their confidence and mastery as the next generation of
mythmakers.
INDUSTRY CONNECTION
Creating or designing characters or stories and understanding the characters’ internal motivations are important to
many creative industries. In addition, knowing how consumers relate to and identify with those characters and stories
is crucial for success. Historical Archetypes and Mythology
introduces the students to a background of characters and
stories that millions of people have invested in. Students
will also learn specific formulas derived from the analysis of
these highly successful stories through which they can create captivating characters, stories, and worlds. Additionally,
the myths themselves provide an excellent resource of powerful and memorable stories, characters, motifs, and themes
that form a significant source for creative inspiration as observed in film, games, TV, music, comics, and literature.
RESEARCH COMPONENT
In this course, students will engage in a research process
that is primarily focused on self-assessment through the use
of the required PMAI test. Students will take the test and
learn about the archetypes currently at the forefront of their
lives. They will also use a PMAI booklet to further explore
the archetypes that are either inactive or shadow archetypes
in their lives. In addition to typical research, much of this
knowledge can be found in modern media such as games,
movies, television shows, and novels. As a result, conducting research that relates to this course is often as simple as
playing a video game or watching a film and contemplating
the various archetypes depicted (this class might permanently change the way students think about movies and play
games). Students will focus on an aspect of mythology that
is appealing to them and perform specific Library research to
complete assignments, meeting industry expectations/standards regarding character and content research.
Historical Archetypes and Mythology—Online  Additional Resources
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
yy The Joseph Campbell Foundation:
http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Discussion Assignments
yy The Pearson archetypal system:
http://www.herowithin.com/index.html
Students must post by a specific day and time each week. The due
date may vary, but the time deadline will always be 11:59 p.m. (EST).
All posts will be well developed, using supporting information, explantations, and analyses.
yy World mythology compiled by Christopher B. Siren:
http://home.comcast.net/~chris.s/myth.html
Weekly Assignments
yy Internet sacred text archive:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm
Four assignments given throughout the month will directly employ
material learned in the specified weeks. Weekly assignments may involve applying personal examples to content, finding examples from
outside sources to apply content, and/or applying provided examples
to content. Specific instructions will be provided on FSO.
yy The Center for Story and Symbol:
http://www.folkstory.com/center/center.html
TOPICS COVERED
yy Shamanism
yy Creation Myths
yy PMAI
GRADE WEIGHTS
yy The Hero Cycle
Week 1 Activity
10%
yy Character Archetypes
Week 2 Activity
10%
yy Celtic Mythology
Week 3 Discussion Activity
10%
yy Norse Mythology
Week 4 Discussion Activity
10%
Discussions (2 at 7% each)
14%
Quizzes (4 at 6% each)
24%
yy Greek Mythology
yy Indian Mythology
yy Chinese Mythology
yy Japanese Mythology
yy Egyptian Mythology
yy Mesopotamian Mythology
yy Supernatural Creatures
yy Antiheroes
yy Heraldry and Vexillology
Required GoToTrainings (4 at 1% each)
4%
Cumulative Exam
8%
Professionalism
Total
10%
100%
Historical Archetypes and Mythology—Online  Strategies for Successful Learning
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL
LEARNING
yy We cover several specific kinds of archetypes in this class. While
these archetypes overlap in ways, make sure you are aware of
which set of archetypes the assignment is asking about prior to
starting on it.
yy Our discussion assignments are two-part assignments that require at least two separate posts that must be a specific length.
Make sure you familiarize yourself with the expectations and
separate due dates for both parts of the discussion.
yy To avoid confusion, all assignments and discussions in this class
must utilize the original work of our three primary theorists
(Jung, Campbell, Pearson) and not those sources that merely
paraphrase their work.
DEFINITION OF A CREDIT HOUR
Historical Archetypes and Mythology is a 4.0 credit hour course. Full
Sail University breaks down one semester credit hour into 45 units
of academic activities as follows:
One clock hour of Contact with a Lab/Course Director or
Associate Course Director
2.0
One hour of Homework and/or preparation for a course activity
0.5
Historical Archetypes and Mythology’s contact and homework hours
amount to 180 total units. The number of units for each academic
activity in this course is broken down as follows:
Academic
Activity
Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
yy All assignments for this class should be typed in twelve-point
Times New Roman font and double-spaced with one-inch page
margins.
Number of
Contact
Hours
15
15
15
yy Create a folder for this class on your desktop during the first
week of class. You should keep backup files of all work that has
been turned in and/or completed in this folder along with any
downloaded assignments, rubrics, syllabi, and so forth.
Number of
Homework
Hours
30
30
30
Total
Total
Total
Units
15
60
120
30
120
60
180
180
Hours
Historical Archetypes and Mythology—Online  Course-Specific Rubric
COURSE-SPECIFIC RUBRIC
Discussion
Expectation
Accomplished
50 points
Competent
26–49 points
Developing
1–25 points
Beginning
0 points
Initial post convinces the reader
that the concepts are understood
and mastered
Initial post content contains
technical errors
Initial post is too brief (fewer than
two paragraphs/ten sentences)
Student does not provide an initial
post
Initial post strays from the topic in
a few sections
Some content is inaccurate and/
or does not accurately address the
discussion topic
Initial Post
Posted by Wednesday at 11:59
p.m. (EST)
Assignment is professional and
polished and devoid of technical
errors
Initial post is a minimum of three
paragraphs (fifteen sentences)
Initial post is on time—posted by
Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. (EST)
Initial post is too brief (fewer
than three paragraphs/fifteen
sentences)
Initial post is late—posted after
Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. (EST)
(25 points max)
Response Post
Response is posted by Sunday
at 11:59 p.m. (EST)
Assignment is professional and
polished and devoid of technical
errors
Student responds to classmates
with additional insight and does
not simply repeat the original post
Response post is a minimum
of two full paragraphs (ten
sentences)
Response post is made on time—
posted by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
(EST)
Total Grade
Comments
Response post strays from the
topic of discussion
Response post is somewhat
vague
Response post is too brief
(fewer than two paragraphs/ten
sentences)
Response post merely agrees
Student does not post a response
with a classmate and does not add to a classmate
any additional insight
Response post merely restates
the original post
Response post is overly brief (less
than a paragraph/fewer than five
sentences)
(25 points max)
Totals