Syllabus

COURSE INFORMATION

  • Course title: Introduction to Literatures and Cultures of the Romance World I: Medieval to Early Modern
  • Course code: RMST_V 201
  • Credits: 3
  • Class time:
    • Tuesday and Thursday 09:30-10:50 a.m. PDT
  • Class location:
  • Instructor: Dr Juliet O’Brien
    • [contact information]
    • [office location and hours, also multimodal hyflex]

DESCRIPTION: “Introducing the Early Romance World”

Description and introduction: to be discussed, together, live, in our week 1 introductory session. We’ll start with the Academic Calendar official description and discuss how you read it, what your expectations of this course are, why you chose it, what you thought that it might be about. This is a new course, and we’re in experimental times, so I’m taking the opportunity to design the course and syllabus collaboratively with you. [We agreed on the subtitle above and on my proposed readings, structure, and assignments.]

READINGS

(all online and free)

WEEK 1: ORIENTATION

WEEKS 2-3: CAVES, REFUGES, POETRY

  • MOVIE: “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
  • literature: selected Occitan poems + translation (JÓB selection, starting with “Tomida femina”)
    • extras: Alidé Sans, The Muppets, Audre Lorde survival and/as poetry, student playlists
  • music: troubadour
  • art: older written records, oldest mss, UNESCO World Heritage sites
  • structures: poetic
  • border places: Pyrennees, Alps, Mediterranean, ice age havens

WEEKS 4-9: ADVENTURING AND OTHER ROMANCE ROMANCES

  • MOVIE: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
  • Marie de France, selected lais
  • Roman de Silence
    • extras: Floire et Blanchefleur CHECK WITH ENG COLLEAGUES IF MODERN TRANS
  • music: Cantigas, prayers, Sequentia Hildegard, Dufay, Machaut
  • art: bestiaries, Isidore of Seville, Brunetto Latini, & other ms online
  • structures: romanesque, monastic, Santiago and the Camino, gothic; Giotto frescos, stained glass windows, 4D story-telling, LOTS OF CATHEDRALS
  • border places: multilingual western archipelago, cities, underworld, otherworlds

WEEKS 10-13: UTOPIAS

  • MOVIE: Dreyer “Joan of Arc”
  • Christine de Pizan, JÓB selections
    • extras: Francis of Assisi, Marguerite Porete, reformation and counter-reformation, radical saints and utopian dreamers (Golden Legend selections)
  • Prefatory utopianism: Boccaccio, Christine, Marguerite de Navarre, Rabelais, Montaigne … and back to Marie de France: prefaces & prologues (JÓB selection, PDF)
  • music: madrigals, Palestrina, Monteverdi (vespers being thematic)
  • art: Bosch
  • structures: cosmopolitan cities, fairs, Carnival, puppets and giants, transnationalism, internationalism … and plague, war, nationalism, and colonialism
  • border places: Sicily, Naples, Florence, Milan, Venice, Flanders, port-cities

THE LAST DAY (AND DISORIENTATION)

  • MOVIE: Bergman “The Seventh Seal”
  • The Last Day: Apocalypse
  • music: Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps
  • art: Beatus Apocalypse, Danses Macabres, 16th c. manuscripts in Spanish (and Maya and Nahuatl inc. dictionaries and translations) from Mexico
  • conquest, Reconquista, colonialism
  • border places: Granada

ASSIGNMENTS

* 25% weekly Canvas Discussions (all term)
* 10% “prof for the day” round table / errant champions (like a presentation, but better) (throughout the term)
* 5% mid-point check-in (week 7)
* 10% reading-week commentary (week 11)
* 20% final project: your local early romance world (group and class “encyclopaedic mirror of the world / mappa mundi”) (end of term)
* 30% final exam: festive fayre of learning, sharing and celebrating final projects (exam period)

SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS

(for Wonderful Local Romance Remixing Projects)

* Boethius
* Macrobius
* travel-narrative: an outsider in the Romance world (Ibn Battuta, The Young Man of Arévalo (Spanish: el Mancebo de Arévalo), Ibn Hawqal and al-Idrisi and Ibn Qalaqis (+ Sicily module), Ibn Jubayr (+ Sicily, Al-Andalus, other side of Crusades)
* further medieval Occitan and Catalan lyric poetry
* Chrétien de Troyes
* Andreas Cappelanus
* Tristan et Iseult
* Voyage of Brendan
* Mélusine
* Aucassin et Nicolette
* Dante
* Boccaccio
* Petrarch
* Chaucer translations
* fables & fabliaux
* farce and theatre
* more saints
* (and sinners and other humans)
* Roman de Renart
* Roman de Fauvel
* More and Erasmus
* Marguerite de Navarre
* Rabelais
* Cervantes

SCHEDULE, WEEK BY WEEK

(on Canvas)

SUPPORT

The next parts of our syllabus—“SUPPORT” and “POLICIES”—are long and complicated and can be confusing. It’s not just you: this can confuse faculty and staff too. There’s a lot of information here. Some of it might change during our three months together: there might be updates from the Faculty of Arts and UBC. Please feel free to email the course coordinator if you have any questions.

In general, about anything in our course and at UBC: if in doubt, if you have any questions or worries about anything, please ask! This course, your class, your instructor, and your coordinators are a safe space and here to help. If we don’t know an answer—we’re human—we’ll try to figure it our together and we’ll help you to find someone who does know and can make things happen. This is a community of care.

UBC resources

The University provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles. UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated, nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious observances. UBC values academic honesty, and students are expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions. UBC also offers resources for survivors of sexual violence. Details of the policies and how to access additional support are available on:

Accommodation

The University of British Columbia recognizes its moral and legal duty to provide academic accommodation. The University must remove barriers and provide opportunities to students with a disability, enabling them to access university services, programs, and facilities and to be welcomed as participating members of the University community. The University’s goal is to ensure fair and consistent treatment of all students in accordance with their distinct needs and in a manner consistent with academic principles.

The University will provide academic accommodation to students with disabilities in accordance with the British Columbia Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210 and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, c. 11.

Provision of academic accommodation shall not lower the academic standards of the University. Academic accommodation shall not remove the need for evaluation and the need to meet essential learning outcomes.

Students with a disability who wish to have an academic accommodation should contact the Centre for Accessibility without delay (see UBC Policy 73).

Academic Concession

If you experience unanticipated events or circumstances that interfere with your ability to accomplish your academic coursework, you may be eligible for academic concession.

If you are already registered with the Centre for Accessibility and your concession is related to your registered medical condition or disability, contact your Accessibility Advisor.

If your situation is related to an experience of sexual violence, you have the option of contacting UBC’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) (604 822 1588) who can assist you with your academic concession.

If you need immediate emotional, mental, or physical support, find a UBC health and wellness resource to help you.

You may be eligible for academic concession when one or more of the conditions listed below unexpectedly hinders your ability to complete an assignment or participate in classes or an examination:

You may be eligible for an in-term concession if you meet the following criteria:

  • You missed a graded requirement in a course
  • The course is still in progress
  • You have been attending regularly and are up-to-date in the course
  • Your studies were impacted for a short time
  • You have grounds for academic concession

In all cases, your request for academic concession should be made as early as reasonably possible to your instructor or Arts Academic Advising. If you are not an Arts student, you should consult with your home faculty for your concession. The most appropriate type of concession (deferred standing, in-term-concession, late withdrawal, etc.) will be determined by your unique situation and the academic requirements for your course.

Full details:

If you miss marked coursework for the first time (assignment, exam, presentation, participation in class) and the course is still in-progress, immediately submit a Student Self-Declaration to me OR speak with me (open-door drop-in or email) so that your in-term concession case can be evaluated.

If this is not the first time you have requested concession or classes are over, fill out Arts Academic Advising’s online academic concession form immediately, so that an advisor can evaluate your concession case.

If you are a student in a different Faculty, please consult your Faculty’s webpage on academic concession, and then contact me where appropriate.

 

POLICIES

FHIS course general policies

  • Attendance is required (see “Attendance” below).
  • Some assignments may vary from section to section at the discretion of individual instructors. They may not, however, vary from student to student within a section.
  • An instructor can only do for one student what they can also do for every other student in the class/course; and they cannot do something for one student that they could not also do for every other student (ex. individual tutoring).
    • Please note that an instructor’s office hours are NOT for individual tutoring or catching up on missed classes.
    • Instructors are under no obligation to re-teach material that has already been taught in a regularly-scheduled session.
  • No extra credit.
  • Late work will not be accepted.*
  • No re-weighting of marks (ex. from a missed assignment onto a later one).*
  • No make-up alternatives for missed assignments.*
  • No re-grading of marked work.*
  • See also syllabus (2): The Rules

* except for students who:
— are registered with the UBC Centre for Accessibility , in adapting the course to their accommodations;
— or have applied for and been granted a concession by Academic Advising (see “Academic Concession” further below);
— or have applied for and been granted a Review of Assigned Standing .

These rights, rules, and responsibilities are in addition to, not instead of, all policies and guidelines as supplied by the University, Faculty of Arts, and Department of FHIS. You are expected to be cognisant with University rules and regulations: this is part of the contractual agreement every student enters into with the University when they register.

Attendance: FHIS department policy

Regular attendance and participation are expected of all students. Students missing 40% or more of their classes, regardless of whether their absences are avoidable or unavoidable, may be considered unable to meet the “learning outcomes” of the course. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes. Any request for academic concession must be clearly expressed (see “Academic Concession”).

Attendance: course additional policy

  • If you are registered with the UBC Centre for Accessibility , the course attendance policy detailed below will be adapted to your individual academic accommodations.
  • If you miss 1 or 2 sessions without notification:
    • no questions asked
    • no penalties
  • If you miss a 3rd session:
    • if you had a reason for missing the session, please complete an Arts Academic Advising student self-declaration form —you DO NOT need to provide me with any further details, it’s OK!—and email it to me; see also below, “Academic Concession”
    • if you do not do so, I will check in with you (email; it is up to students to ensure that their email address is up to date) and submit an Early Alert for you: to help you, by putting you in contact with UBC support services
    • no penalties
  • If you miss a 4th session and any further sessions:
    • if you had a reason for missing the session, please make a request to Arts Academic Advising (or to your faculty advising office , if you’re not in Arts) for in-term academic concession
    • otherwise, if I don’t hear from you and if you haven’t applied for and been granted an in-term academic concession: penalties: et the end of term 10% will be deducted from your final grade per session missed
      (so: miss 3 sessions = no penalty; miss 4 = -10%, miss 5 = -20%, miss 6 = -30%, etc.)
  • If you miss more than 9 sessions:
    • you will have missed 3 weeks of term, 25% of the course
    • I will write to you (email) to warn you that you risk being unable to meet the course’s learning objectives
    • (for all students, and even if you have been granted Academic Concession)
  • If you miss more than 15 sessions:
    • you will have missed more than 40% of your course, and will be considered unable to meet the course’s learning objectives
    • you may be asked to withdraw from the course
    • you may be excluded from the final examination
    • (for all students, and even if you have been granted Academic Concession)

Technology Etiquette and Netiquette

When used in the classroom, technology presents both learning opportunities and disruptions. At times, the use of technology will be encouraged in class when appropriate. In general, it is common courtesy to turn off alerts and notifications from devices as they can distract you and others, and to turn off cell phones during class time and put them away.

But also: you may use whatever devices are most suitable for you.

As spoken production is a vital part of this class and its learning objectives, you will be required to turn on and use your microphone in any online sessions. Student video is optional. Some assignments may include video recording, for assessing speaking.

It is important to encourage communication and to create a class community of trust and mutual aid. For that reason the default position will be that neither audio nor video of students participating in class will be recorded: that means no recording either by your instructor or by students.

There are two exceptions:

  • an instructor may record themselves speaking in part of a session where they explain or demonstrate something so that all students can watch that short video segment later at their leisure; it will be clear when recording stops and starts, and the video will be available to all students later through Canvas;
  • for certain students registered with the UBC Centre for Accessibility, if recording all their classes is one of their accommodations, and if recording is arranged by Accessibility.

See also: Canvas discussions guidelines + netiquette

Assignment Submission

The Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies expects that students will submit assignments as scheduled. Instructors are not required to make allowances for any missed test or incomplete work that is not satisfactorily accounted for. Any request for academic concession must be clearly expressed (see “Academic Concession”).

Academic Integrity

As a scholarly community, we share an understanding of the ethical ways that we use and produce knowledge. A core practice of this shared value of academic integrity is that we acknowledge the contributions of others to our own work, but it also means we produce our own contributions that add to the academic conversation. We don’t buy or copy academic work, nor present as ours a document that has been translated by someone else or a translation software. We also don’t falsify data or sources, or hand in the same work in more than one course.

Any instance of cheating or taking credit for someone else’s work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can and often will result in a grade of zero for the assignment, and these cases will be reported to the FHIS Department Head, and the Faculty of Arts Associate Dean, Academic. See the UBC Calendar entries on Academic Honesty, Academic Misconduct, and Disciplinary Measures, and check out the Student Declaration and Responsibility. See Tips for Avoiding Plagiarism, from the Chapman Learning Commons.

In addition to the FHIS Academic Integrity policy above, our course has further rules about assignments, quizzes, and exams:

  • Assignments, quizzes, and exams must be YOUR OWN work. It is important to make your own mistakes and to learn from them.
  • You MAY NOT contact, communicate with, or receive assistance from any of the following to help with assessed work: other students, friends, acquaintances, family, neighbours, tutors, online services, exam upload sites, crowdsourcing, Reddit, or any other person or agency or entity.
  • You MAY NOT consult or use any materials when doing assessed work unless you have been explicitly authorised to do so, in writing, by your instructor. For these purposes “Materials” include but are not limited to: your course materials, materials from other courses, course notes and other materials on Canvas, your own course notes, your notes from other courses, any other of your own notes, other people’s notes, websites, search engines, online databases, spell-checking and grammar-checking software, automated translation, translation engines, verb conjugators, dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopaedias, and reference works.
  • You MAY NOT do any of the items listed above unless explicitly authorised to do so, for that specific work, by your instructor. This means that, unless you have explicit permission to use them, no such means of assistance are to be used at all. Their use constitutes a breach of UBC Academic Integrity. That is: academic misconduct.

There are three exceptions:

  1. You are strongly encouraged to work together with peer colleagues in our class, in pairs or small study groups. This is especially recommended for regular reading and practice work, after you have covered the work concerned in class—ideally every session day—to reinforce what you are learning while it is still fresh in your mind.
  2. Group work, with peers in our class.
  3. If and only if your instructor has told you, for a specific assignment, that you are permitted to use a certain support or tool—for example visiting the FHIS Learning Centre or consulting a specific free online dictionary—as an integral part of your work on that assignment. Such specific instructions will only apply to that specific assignment. They will be clearly written at the start of that assignment.

COVID-19 safety

You are required to wear [at least] a non-medical mask during our class meetings, for your own protection and the safety and comfort of everyone else in the class. For our in-person meetings in this class, it is important that all of us feel as comfortable as possible engaging in class activities while sharing an indoor space. Non-medical masks that cover our noses and mouths are a primary tool for combating the spread of COVID-19. Further, according to the provincial mandate, masks are required in all indoor public spaces including lobbies, hallways, stairwells, elevators, classrooms and labs. There may be students who have medical accommodations for not wearing a mask. Please maintain a respectful environment. See: UBC Statement on Respectful Environment for Students, Faculty and Staff.

UBC’s response to COVID-19, and latest updates, are at https://covid19.ubc.ca

Absences related to COVID-19

If you are sick, it is important that you stay at home:

Complete a self-assessment for COVID-19 symptoms here: https://bc.thrive.health/covid19/en.. In this class, the marking scheme is intended to provide flexibility so that you can prioritize your health and still succeed.

If you miss class because of illness:

Please contact me to discuss your options. Also: we’ll be working a lot in the first two weeks of term on connecting students, forming learning groups, as part of becoming a mutual aid collective: this is one aspect of being a community of care. We’ll be talking more about this in the first week of classes, including through Canvas Discussion. A practical tip: within your learning group (and through your other connections with students in our class), you can help each other by sharing notes.

If you are feeling ill and cannot attend class for a quiz:

Please email me right away. If you arrive for a quiz and you are clearly ill, we will make alternate arrangements with you. It is better to email ahead of time and not attend.

If you are feeling ill at the time of a final exam:

Please do not attend the exam. You must apply for deferred standing (an academic concession) through Arts Academic Advising. Students who are granted deferred standing (SD) will write the final exam/assignment at a later date.

If I (the instructor) am feeling ill:

If I am unwell, I will not come to class. I will make every reasonable attempt to communicate plans for class as soon as possible (by email, on Canvas, etc.). I will either hold that class session online (Zoom) or, if I am not well enough to teach, I will arrange for a colleague to substitute. Our classroom will still be available for you to sit in and attend an online session, using your laptop or tablet.

Delayed arrivals of international students:

If your arrival will be delayed due to travel plans, visa issues, and/or quarantine requirements: please email me and keep me updated. We will do what we can to accommodate registered students, to ensure that you can attend and participate in class remotely, temporarily, until you’ve arrived here. It’s complicated from a practical teaching point of view, it won’t be perfect, and there are practical limits to what we can do as this is a live interactive class and not a simple “lecture” course so its classes will not be recorded. If your arrival risks being significantly delayed (after 20 September) we would recommend that you change to a different, fully online, class that is at a time that fits your time-zone and schedule. If you need help or guidance with this, please contact juliet.obrien@ubc.ca.

Learning analytics

This course will be using the following digital learning technologies:

  • Canvas

Your instructor / the course coordinator will only use your analytics data on Canvas to:

  • View overall class progress
  • Track participation in discussion forums
  • Assess your participation in the course

It is possible that your analytics data might be used by others in the university; all analytics data use should be for purposes of teaching and learning, subject to your consent, in a manner that complies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), and open to Freedom of Information request.

Copyright

All materials of this course (course design, assessments, and syllabus; class handouts, slides, and notes; course readings, etc.) are the intellectual property of your instructor or licensed to be used in this course by the copyright owner. Students have permission to record classes, but not to redistribute or sell these course materials.

Materials uploaded to Canvas by an instructor and shared with students on Canvas are for the use of those students registered in that class, and only by them, and are not to be downloaded, uploaded and shared elsewhere, and otherwise distributed in any way.

Redistribution of these materials by any means without permission of the copyright holder(s) constitutes a breach of copyright and may lead to academic discipline.

Document last revised: 2021-09-08.

Sometimes a syllabus will need to be adjusted over the course of the term; that is in the nature of a flexible, responsive, interactive course in live action with human beings. Changes will only ever be in your favour: ex. if a deadline is changed for your class, it will only ever be moved forwards in time to a later date—never to an earlier one—and this will be done in consultation with you and your whole class.

If your instructor sees a need to change anything after the syllabus has been distributed at the beginning of term, they will discuss the proposal with the class and then, if you agree to the proposed change, they will update the syllabus. A new, dated electronic syllabus will be emailed to you and provided on Canvas.