K20.1539

TR 11:00-12:15

2 credits

Steve Hutkins

REQUIRED TEXTS

Note on the texts: These works are available in various editions, and it is not particularly important which you use; those listed here are available at the NYU bookstore.  The works can also be accessed for free online as e-texts (links, below), but it can be difficult reading them that way.  (Also, note that Herodotus' Snakes with Wings consists of selections from The History; if you're using a complete edition, you can see the excerpted passages here.  Also, the edition of Columbus consists of excerpts from several sources, mostly available online, but it may be difficult piecing them together yourself.)

1. Herodotus, Snakes with Wings & Gold-Digging Ants (selections from The History) (Penguin Great Journeys)
2. Marco Polo, The Travels (Penguin)
3. The Travels of Ibn Battouta (Picador)
4. Christopher Columbus, The Four Voyages (Penguin)
5. Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America (or, The Account) (University of New Mexico Press or Arte Publico Press)
6. Shakespeare, The Tempest (Signet Classics)

Plus, online texts of Homer's Odyssey and Montaigne's Of Cannibals

SCHEDULE OF READINGS

(See the Assignment page for details about the reading assignments.)

REQUIREMENTS

1. Participation, attendance, etc. (20% of final grade)

2. Blog essay writing: 7 posts, approx. 500 words each, plus 7 comments (100 words) on other blogs (80%)

3. Extra credit: more posts, more comments

(No Incomplete grades.)

CONTACT:

Office: 715 Broadway, room 608

Phone: 998-7361

E-mail: ssh1@nyu.edu

Course website: placestudies.com

Office Hours: Tues., 10 – 11, 3:30 – 5:00; Thurs., 10 – 11, 12:30 - 2, 3:30 – 5:00

E-texts:

Odyssey

Herodotus, The History (complete edition, here; selections for class, here)

Travels of Marco Polo

The Travels of Ibn Battouta

The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca (The Relación)

Columbus, Letter to King and Queen of Spain, 1494; Diary

Shakespeare, The Tempest

Montaigne, Of Cannibals