University Curriculum Committee
Proposal for New Course
1. Is this course being proposed for Liberal Studies designation? Yes No xIf yes, route completed form to Liberal Studies.
2. New course effective beginning what term and year? (ex. Spring 2009,
Summer 2009) See effective dates schedule. / Fall 2011
3. College / Arts and Letters / 4. Academic Unit /Department / Comparative Cultural Studies
5. Course subject/catalog number / CCS 490C / 6. Units/Credit Hours / 3
7. Long course title / Capstone in Comparative Cultural Studies
(max 100 characters including spaces)
8. Short course title (max. 30 characters including
spaces) / CCS Capstone
9. Catalog course description (max. 30 words, excluding requisites).
A topics-oriented, interdisciplinary seminar in which students pursue a project in their emphasis; includes comparative analysis of artistic, literary and religious practices from the disciplinary perspectives in CCS.
10. Grading option:
Letter grade / X / Pass/Fail / or Both
(If both, the course may only be offered one way for each respective section.)
11. Co-convened with / 11a. Date approved by UGC
(Must be approved by UGC prior to bringing to UCC. Both course syllabi must be presented)
12. Cross-listed with
(Please submit a single cross-listed syllabus that will be used for all cross-listed courses.)
13. May course be repeated for additional units? / yes / x / no
a. If yes, maximum units allowed? / 6
b. If yes, may course be repeated for additional units in the same term?
(ex. PES 100) / yes / no / x
14. Prerequisites (must be completed before
proposed course) / Junior status or higher, CCS 250 and CCS 350W.
15. Corequisites (must be completed with
proposed course)
16. Is the course needed for a new or existing plan of study
(major, minor, certificate)? yes / x / no
Name of plan? / BA in Comparative Cultural Studies
Note: If required, a new plan or plan change form must be submitted with this request.
17. Is a potential equivalent course offered at a community college (lower division only) yes / no / x
If yes, does it require listing in the Course Equivalency Guide? yes / no / x
Please list, if known, the institution and subject/catalog number of the course
18. Names of current faculty qualified to teach this course: / All CCS faculty
19. Justification for new course, including unique features if applicable. (Attach proposed
syllabus in the approved university format).
This course represents the new capstone class for all CCS majors; it replaces ARH 440C, HUM 475C, 480C and 490C and REL 421C, 441C, 451C, 481C and 491C. It focuses on interdisciplinary learning and on the ramifications of interdisciplinary inquiry into cultural practices and products.
For Official AIO Use Only:
Component Type
Consent
Topics Course
35. Approvals
Department Chair (if appropriate) DateChair of college curriculum committee Date
Dean of college Date
For Committees use only
For University Curriculum Committee DateAction taken:
Approved as submitted / Approved as modified
Northern Arizona University
College of Arts & Letters
Dept. of Comparative Cultural Studies
CCS 490C:
Capstone in Comparative Cultural Studies
Epic & Drama: Hindu Perspectives
***
What is found in this epic may be elsewhere;
what is not in this epic is nowhere else.
from the Mahābhārata, 1.56.33.
***
Prof. Bruce M. Sullivan Spring, 2012
Office: Riles 311 Course meeting times: TBA
Office hours:TBA Classroom: Riles 113
Email: 3 credit hours Phone: 523-0244 My website = http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/bms
Course Prerequisites
Junior or senior standing, plus completion CCS 250 and CCS 350W.
Course Description
CCS 490C is the capstone course for the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies Bachelor of Arts degree. Students in the CCS Capstone class are encouraged to pursue a project in their emphasis and are required to employ methods taken from the other CCS fields. This approach ensures that CCS Capstone students take full advantage of the opportunity to synthesize the skills they have learned from having taken courses in all three emphasis areas in CCS.
This iteration of CCS 490C is an interdisciplinary examination of an important text of the Hindu religious literature, the Sanskrit epic poem Mahābhārata, as well as dramas and artistic representations based on that narrative. These literary and artistic works embody the diverse ideas and values of Hindu cultural and religious traditions. The texts feature discussion of various perspectives on how to live, including the meaning and purpose of life, the social consequences of one’s choices, ethical dilemmas, and divergent religious ideas and practices. The artistic works are integral to Hindu temples and worship practices. Study of these literary and artistic works enables the student to explore themes that are relevant to the human condition and human experience across cultures, such as war and peace, loyalty, shame, fame, immortality, etc.
Learning Outcomes and Course Objectives
As a capstone experience, this course calls upon and refines the skills cultivated in earlier courses. This course will directly address two of the three Global Learning outcomes:
• Global Engagement: Students will learn how to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the
interconnectedness and interdependence of the human experience on a global scale.
• Diversity: Students will learn about and critically reflect upon the nature and consequences of diversity in the social (e.g. ethnic, religious, cultural) world, and develop an understanding of how this diversity both alters and is altered in a world characterized by increasing global interaction.
Each of the course objectives entails careful reading and critical thinking, expressed through the student’s effective writing and effective oral communication. Active engagement with the content of this course will enable the student
(1) to describe the major characters and events of the epic poem Mahābhārata.
(2) to analyze how these characters and events embody and enact the ideas and values of the Hindu religious tradition and cultural heritage(s), and to articulate that analysis.
(3) to analyze the transformations of the epic narrative and its characters in other art forms (dramas, television series, films, dance, painting, sculpture).
(4) to analyze both primary works and secondary, scholarly studies of them.
(5) to analyze and articulate (in class discussions and in writing) themes in this literature that are relevant to the human condition and human experience across cultures, such as
war and peace, loyalty, shame, fame, immortality, etc.
Course Structure & Approach
This course is in seminar format, and includes intensive reading of selected texts and studies. Students will have the opportunity to read critically some of the vast literature of the Mahābhārata and discuss its cultural context, religious ideas, and narrative strategies. Students will be enabled to reach greater understanding of the embodiment of the Hindu religious tradition in a popular form as cultural performance: a recited text or drama. Students will develop and refine these skills: (1) careful reading of various texts, (2) effective oral communication through seminar discussions, discussion leadership, and the presentation to the class of their findings, and (3) effective writing in response to the texts studied.
Texts & Required Readings
These are the readings on which this course is based. The books are available in the NAU Bookstore in paperback, or through Amazon.com or bookstores, etc.
1) The Mahābhārata, an abridged translation. Smith, John D. (trans.).
London: Penguin Classics, 2009.
2) Sauptikaparvan of the Mahābhārata: The Massacre at Night.
Johnson, W.J. (trans.). Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1999.
3) The Recognition of Śakuntalā: A play in seven acts, with Śakuntalā in the Mahābhārata. Johnson, W.J. (trans.). Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 2001.
4) The Bhagavad Gita. Patton, Laurie (trans.). London: Penguin Classics, 2008.
5) Additional readings at https://vista.nau.edu/ (or its replacement).
Plan to visit the course website regularly for readings, announcements, events, etc.
Course Schedule and Deadlines
Please read the assigned material before class to facilitate discussion.
Week 1 Introduction to the course and the world of the Mahābhārata.
In the first week, Professor Sullivan will be joined by instructors from Art History and Humanities. Together they will introduce students to the principles of the capstone experience for their areas of emphasis and how the study of epic literature is an opportunity for an interdisciplinary approach involving areas of emphasis within the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies.
Week 2 Overview: Read Smith, “Introduction” (these sections:
“The Mahābhārata,” “The Story,” then “The MBh as a Text” and “This Translation” — other sections of the “Introduction” are optional), plus
in Vista two readings for this week: “Origins” (MBh 1.1-2), and
“The Earliest Lineages” (MBh 1.53-55); then
read Smith, Book 1, Beginnings: pp. 10-23, and 28-83.
[Note: Johnson’s Sauptikaparvan, pp. 87-103, has a good summary.]
Week 3 Read Smith, Book 2, The Hall: pp. 84-163.
Week 4 Read Smith, Book 3, The Forest: pp. 164-166;
plus in Vista “The Mountain Man” (MBh 3.13-14 and 3.24-42);
and “The Bushel of Rice” and “The Abduction of Draupadī”
(MBh 3.245-256); then resume Smith, pp. 233-242.
Week 5 Read Smith, Book 4, Virāṭa: (pp. 243-292, all of this Parvan), then in Vista read these segments of Book 5, Perseverance:
Karṇa (5.135-141), and Ambā (5.170-174 & 5.187-193).
Week 6 Article analysis paper and its presentation are due.
Week 7 Smith, Book 6, Bhīṣma: pp. 348 to 366 & 398 to 412; and
Book 7, Droṇa: pp. 469-484; and
Book 8, Karṇa: pp. 512-525; and
Book 9, Śalya: pp. 549-562.
Week 8 Book 10: Read Johnson, Sauptikaparvan, the Massacre at Night (pp. 1-86).
Week 9 Paper due on an aspect of the Mahābhārata.
Read in Vista a selection from Tranquillity, Book 12.110-115, plus
Books 15 through 18 (Smith, pp. 734-791).
Week 10 Bhagavad Gītā: the central message of the Mahābhārata (?), a discussion of options regarding how to live and how to be religious. Patton (entire).
Week 11 The story of Śakuntalā in the MBh (Johnson, pp. 107-137), plus the stories of “Sāvitrī” (Smith, pp. 214-233), and “Ṛśyaśṛṅga” (Smith, pp. 180-187).
Week 12 Johnson, Kālidāsa’s drama Abhijñāna-Śākuntala (Johnson, pp. 1-105).
Week 13 MBh Dramas (in Vista): Karṇabhāra (Karṇa’s Trial); Ūrubhaṅga (The Breaking of the Thighs); Sullivan, “MBh on Stage”; Gitomer, “King Duryodhana”; and Sullivan, “Dying on the Stage.”
Week 14 Research presentations.
Week 15 Research presentations.
Perspectives on the course: During this week the instructors from Art History and Humanities will rejoin the course for a discussion on the students’ experiences in interdisciplinary learning and on the ramifications of their interdisciplinary inquiry into cultural practices and products during the semester.
Final paper is due in my office, Riles 311, at the time for the final exam.
Evaluation Methods & Deadlines
Assessment of Outcomes
As an in-depth exploration of various Hindu cultural and religious traditions, which will be seen to have differing values and interests that at times conflict with each other, students will refine their capabilities with regard to the Global Learning Outcomes of Global Engagement and Diversity. Each of the five course objectives will be assessed throughout the semester by seminar discussion of readings at each session, student presentations to the seminar, and the three writing assignments of increasing length and depth.
Assignments
Seminar discussion: In a seminar, each student is responsible for participating in discussion of readings regularly. Twenty percent of the semester’s grade in this course is based on seminar discussion. Discussion contributions are expected to show close and thoughtful reading of the material. Please note that there is no adequate substitute for presence at our seminar class discussions; to be absent is to miss a segment of the course. Absence not only reduces the student’s own understanding of the material, it prevents other students from learning from the insights and interpretations of the absent student. Therefore, missing two meetings without valid and documented reasons will result in reduction of 5% (50 points) from the student’s total points on the semester, with another 5% reduction for each additional absence.
For each of the ten seminar meetings in which readings are being discussed, each student is to formulate comments and questions about the readings, write them out, and plan to introduce these comments in seminar discussion. For each week’s readings, the number of your comments will vary but strive for about eight to ten comments analyzing the day’s reading. Observations and/or questions of especially good quality will make up for a smaller quantity of them; the purpose is to enhance our discussion of the readings. Please send me your comments and questions by email within the Vista system for our course by 6 A.M. on the day our class meets, with your name clearly indicated and the reading on which you are commenting indicated. Doing so will allow me to review the observations and questions, and determine themes to be addressed in class. These reading responses will be part of the course grade based on seminar discussion; they also assure that your analysis of readings is noticed even if we do not discuss all your particular points. Please keep a copy of your reading responses for your use in discussion, in addition to sending one to me. Plan to bring up during each class session several of these items you have thought about and written out.
Twice during the semester, each student will be responsible for discussion leadership on one reading. You should assume that each person in the room has read the assignment and has something to say about it. Your objective in leading discussion, therefore, is not to summarize at length what the reading says, though you may want to identify some noteworthy aspects of what it says. Instead, this is an opportunity to ask a series of questions about what the reading says and what we think about it. These might include questions about the structure of the reading, its argument or the position it articulates on certain issues, what the reading reveals about the assumptions or ideology embedded in this text, how this reading relates to earlier ones, and so forth. Please provide me (in Vista) an outline of the points you plan to raise for discussion, again by 6 A.M. on that Wednesday. (See below for a list of readings and dates; plan to select two readings for discussion leadership).
Article analysis & presentation: Each student will select one scholarly article from a list provided, and present that article’s thesis and the main points of its argument to the class in summary fashion, then facilitate our discussion of the ways in which the article contributes to our understanding of the Mahābhārata. Expect about 10 minutes for this event. On the day of the presentation, the student will hand in two copies of a paper (about 1200 words, or 4 pages) on the article that includes summary and analysis of its contents.