This is a post in a series taken from the preliminary version of the course-design document for CAMS 3208. Dig in and see what you think! Please do let me know if you’ve got suggestions for other activities, or if you think anything needs clarification. I really want this course to be something gamers with the slightest interest in the ancient world, and classicists with the slightest interest in gaming, are drooling to take. :D
Goals, Objectives, Assessment
A. Goal: Knowledge of the bardic occasion
Objective: Students will be able to describe thickly the bardic occasion, as portrayed above all in the Homeric Odyssey, so as to demonstrate a strong knowledge of its impact on the culture of Archaic Greece.
Assessment: Exam question
B. Goal: Knowledge of oral formulaic theory
Objective: Students will be able to produce a summary of oral formulaic theory, with reference to the Yugoslavian bards studied by Milman Parry and Albert Lord.
Assessment: Exam question
C. Goal: Skill at applied analysis of epic
Objective: Students will be able to report on a video-gaming experience as an occasion of epic practice.
Assessment: Lab report
D. Goal: Skill at literary analysis of ancient epic
Objective: Students will be able to produce an essay that explores various interpretations of the significance of the Iliad and the Odyssey in Archaic Greece and in the modern world, with particular reference to the culture of video games.
Assessment: Exam essay or on-line discussion evaluation
E. Goal: Applied analysis of gaming culture
Objective: Students will be able to describe thickly gaming culture as a reawakening of ancient epic practice.
Assessment: Lab report
