CLS 202 — Modern Odysseys: Homer in the 20th Century (An MLA-Style Course)
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Miles Osgood
Date(s): Sep 28—Nov 30
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
Grade Restriction: Credit only; no NGR/letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—9:05 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class on November 23
Tuition: $640
Refund Deadline: Sep 30
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Mondays
Duration: 9 weeks
Time: 7:00—9:05 pm (PT)
Date(s): Sep 28—Nov 30
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $640
Refund Deadline: Sep 30
Instructor(s): Miles Osgood
Grade Restriction: Credit only; no NGR/letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 18
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: No class on November 23
ABOUT THIS MLA-STYLE COURSE:
This course is open to students who have not previously enrolled in an MLA-style course through Stanford Continuing Studies. The course aims to introduce those interested in pursuing a degree in the Stanford Master of Liberal Arts Program to the kind of seminar they would likely encounter in the program. Students will face the same kind of intellectual challenges, opportunities to engage in weekly discussion, and stimulus to write persuasive research essays. Students are required to take this course for credit, submit written work, and contribute to class discussions, as happens in all MLA seminars. However, this course may not be taken for a letter grade, though students’ written work will receive extensive feedback from the instructor. For more information on the MLA Program, visit mla.stanford.edu.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Across the 20th century, some of the most groundbreaking works of literature returned to a source nearly 3,000 years old: Homer's Odyssey. From the mythic scaffolding of James Joyce's Ulysses to the Caribbean cadences of Derek Walcott's Omeros, modern writers have reimagined Odysseus's journey to tell new stories of exile, identity, and return. Homer's epic appears in the voice of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, the perspectives of Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad, and the lyric counterpoint of Louise Glück’s Meadowlands. In each, the Odyssey becomes a site of experimentation, whether as modernist method, postcolonial inheritance, or feminist re-vision.
In this course, we'll read the Odyssey alongside the works it inspired, moving between classical epic and contemporary reinvention. We'll examine essays on myth, modernity, and literary theory. Students will develop skills in comparative reading, thesis-driven writing, and research. We'll ask how and why this ancient text continues to speak powerfully to modern times—and how our understanding of Homer has evolved.
This course is open to students who have not previously enrolled in an MLA-style course through Stanford Continuing Studies. The course aims to introduce those interested in pursuing a degree in the Stanford Master of Liberal Arts Program to the kind of seminar they would likely encounter in the program. Students will face the same kind of intellectual challenges, opportunities to engage in weekly discussion, and stimulus to write persuasive research essays. Students are required to take this course for credit, submit written work, and contribute to class discussions, as happens in all MLA seminars. However, this course may not be taken for a letter grade, though students’ written work will receive extensive feedback from the instructor. For more information on the MLA Program, visit mla.stanford.edu.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Across the 20th century, some of the most groundbreaking works of literature returned to a source nearly 3,000 years old: Homer's Odyssey. From the mythic scaffolding of James Joyce's Ulysses to the Caribbean cadences of Derek Walcott's Omeros, modern writers have reimagined Odysseus's journey to tell new stories of exile, identity, and return. Homer's epic appears in the voice of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, the perspectives of Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad, and the lyric counterpoint of Louise Glück’s Meadowlands. In each, the Odyssey becomes a site of experimentation, whether as modernist method, postcolonial inheritance, or feminist re-vision.
In this course, we'll read the Odyssey alongside the works it inspired, moving between classical epic and contemporary reinvention. We'll examine essays on myth, modernity, and literary theory. Students will develop skills in comparative reading, thesis-driven writing, and research. We'll ask how and why this ancient text continues to speak powerfully to modern times—and how our understanding of Homer has evolved.
MILES OSGOOD
Communications Manager, Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, Stanford
Miles Osgood teaches literature and philosophy at Stanford, primarily for the Structured Liberal Education Program. He received a PhD in English from Harvard. He is a former assistant editor at Oxford University Press and is building a special program on “Storytelling and Mythmaking” for the Stanford English Department. Osgood's essays have been published in Slate, n+1, The Washington Post, Modernism/modernity, and ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Homer, Stanley Lombardo(trans) , Odyssey (ISBN 978-0872204843)
(Required) James Joyce, Hans Walter Gabler(ed), Ulysses (ISBN 978-0394743127)
(Required) Madeline Miller, Circe (ISBN 978-0316556323)
(Required) Derek Walcott, Omeros (ISBN 978-0374523503)
(Required) Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad (ISBN 978-1786892485)
(Required) Daniel Mendelsohn, An Odyssey (ISBN 978-0345806215)
(Optional) Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (ISBN 978-0679732761)
(Optional) Louise Glück, Meadowlands (ISBN 978-0880015066)
(Required) James Joyce, Hans Walter Gabler(ed), Ulysses (ISBN 978-0394743127)
(Required) Madeline Miller, Circe (ISBN 978-0316556323)
(Required) Derek Walcott, Omeros (ISBN 978-0374523503)
(Required) Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad (ISBN 978-1786892485)
(Required) Daniel Mendelsohn, An Odyssey (ISBN 978-0345806215)
(Optional) Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (ISBN 978-0679732761)
(Optional) Louise Glück, Meadowlands (ISBN 978-0880015066)