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Class number:
3334
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Title: New Troy |
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Department: English |
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Career: Undergraduate |
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Component: Seminar |
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Session: Regular |
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Instructor's Permission Required: No |
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Grading Basis: Regular |
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Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 15 |
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Current enrollment: 14 |
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Available seats: 1 |
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Start date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 |
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End date: Wednesday, December 23, 2026 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
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Schedule: TR: 10:50AM-12:05PM, HL - 123 |
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Instructor(s): Staples, James |
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Prerequisite(s): None |
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Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities Requirement |
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Note: For English majors, this course fulfills the pre-1800, elective, additional literature or film, critical reflection, and UVSJ requirements. For all students, it fulfills the College’s HUM requirement. |
Course Description:
After the ancient city of Troy fell-so the story goes-Trojans arrived on the island of Albion, a paradise far in the westernmost reaches of their known world. After slaughtering the indigenous giants, the Trojans claimed the island, renamed it Britain, and thus established a New Troy. Troy captivated the medieval imagination, representing the highest realization of "civilization." Medieval poets, however, also brought attention to the supremacist violence of this civilizing process by focusing on the women, the giants, and others who met tragic ends as a result. We will consider medieval accounts of Troy-such as Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and Troy's Arthurian afterlives-alongside postcolonial theory, Critical Race and Indigenous studies, queer and feminist theory, and ecocriticism to develop this critique. |