During my winter break last year, I received an email about an educational opportunity that I could take part in during the next spring semester. The class was a comparative literature course on mythology, and since I had always taken an interest in myths and the stuff of legend I thought that the course would be a perfect fit. However, once I arrived, I soon found out that the lessons I would be learning were very different from the mythology I had studied in the past. This course did not teach about the typical Greek and Roman myths that most of us were taught in grade school. Instead, the course focused on a more diverse group of cultures, such as African, Babylonian, and Native American myths. It was fascinating to learn about the myths that came from each continent, while learning a little about the cultures that created them as well. While each culture was extremely different from the next, I could still see patterns like character archetypes and supernatural elements emerging, as well as myths that seemed to be carbon copies, just starring different people and locations. The course was a fascinating global study of culture and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves mythology.
CM108U: A Global Take on a Classic Subject
