Minor in Folklore and Mythology

Catalog Year: 2023-2024

Banner Code: LA-MINOR-LA-FOLK

Stories told in both sacred and secular contexts, along with festivals, foods, music, material objects, and other traditional art forms, continue to influence our lives. This interdisciplinary minor offers students tools to explore the compelling meanings within these seemingly simple, everyday cultural texts, and helps them become more aware of the ways these texts are used by individuals and institutions for various goals. Students study folklore and mythology by juxtaposing the multiple viewpoints of anthropology, art history, classical studies, literary studies, and religious studies.

Faculty

Burek, Dakake, Decaroli, Gatling, Gilman, Lattanzi Shutika, Winkler, Zhang (coordinator)

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on program requirements and courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes. Requirements may be different for earlier catalog years. See the University Catalog archives.

Minor Requirements

Total credits: minimum 18

Students should be aware of the specific policies associated with this program, located on the Admissions & Policies tab.

Core Courses

Required course: 3
Folklore and Folklife (Mason Core)  
Select at least one course from the following: 3-15
Topics in Myth and Literature  
Topics in Folklore Studies  
Folklore and the Supernatural  
Folk Arts and Folk Artists  
Folklore and Migration  
Total Credits 6-18

Elective

Select at most four courses from the following: 0-12
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (Mason Core)  
Myth, Magic, and Mind (Mason Core)  
Language and Culture  
Symbols and Stories in Art (Mason Core)  
Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (Mason Core)  
Greek Art and Archaeology (Mason Core)  
Roman Art and Archaeology (Mason Core)  
Arts of India (Mason Core)  
Arts of Southeast Asia (Mason Core)  
Arts of China (Mason Core)  
Classical Mythology (Mason Core)  
Greek and Roman Epic (Mason Core)  
Topics in Classical Literature and Culture (when the topic is Greek Myth and Literature)  
RS: Topics in Folklore Research (Mason Core)  
Internship (when an approved internship in folklore)  
RS: Writing Ethnography (Mason Core)  
Independent Study  
The Human Religious Experience (Mason Core)  
Global Folklore (Mason Core)  
Introduction to Religions of the "West" (Mason Core)  
Introduction to Religions of Asia (Mason Core)  
Death and the Afterlife in Religion  
Total Credits 0-12