Academic Mastery

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Grammar, Citing, & Humanities Writing cluster.

Anyone wishing to write about literature will need to know how to acknowledge the ideas of others, and this course offers an overview of the MLA citation style, an introduction to basic library research methods, and an introduction to engaging with sources in paragraphs, in annotated bibliographies, and in literature reviews for larger academic projects. While some students may elect to practice other citation styles for their final project, the current MLA “container” style, which can be adapted for most other styles, allows ample opportunities to discuss ways to cite nontraditional materials that are often useful for scholars working in the realms of imaginative literature, science fiction, fan studies, adaptation studies, and much more.
This module is open to all students, has no prerequisites, and may be repeated as many times as desired. Students participate in weekly discussions and workshops, complete weekly citation activities, and complete a final assessment.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Foundations in Critical Reading and Research. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (4 hours video; 8 hours discussion and workshops)

Assessments: weekly & summative

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity, with weekly and summative assessments

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

Beginning Old Norse is designed to learn the basics of reading and translating Old Norse from the ground up. Old Norse is a term used broadly to refer to languages and dialects of Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia, and sometimes more specifically to refer to Old Icelandic, the form of the language used in Medieval Iceland. It was in Old Icelandic that the largest body of pre-modern Scandinavian literature was written, including the prose sagas and a wealth of mythological and legendary poetry. No prior knowledge of the language or study of historical languages is assumed or required.

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Tolkien's Middle-earth in Context cluster and is recommended as the first course in the series.

This five-week module provides students with the information needed to articulate for themselves the context behind Tolkien’s master work, his The Lord of the Rings, through an in-depth analysis of his two most important essays. Students watch recorded lectures by Dr. Verlyn Flieger, participate in weekly discussions with a member of our graduate faculty, and complete a final writing project. The module may be repeated as many times as desired. Students are welcome to take modules individually and in any order that suits their scholarly needs, but this module provides the foundational concepts for the course.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Tolkien's World of Middle-earth. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (9 hours video; 8 hours discussion

Assessments: summative (final project)

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This group of four interconnected modules is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in Grammar, Citing, & Humanities Writing modules.

Four short, linked courses invite students to learn, review, and practice a range of skills that are critical to humanities studies: paragraph structure, analytical readings, grammar and punctuation, and research and citations. These modules can be taken independently, bundled, and in any sequence; they may be repeated as many times as desired to help students develop confidence and achieve mastery.

Note: Modules in this series draw extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Foundations in Critical Reading and Research. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Grammar, Citing, & Humanities Writing cluster.

Combining theoretical lectures by Dr. Sara Brown, chair of Signum’s Department of Language and Literature, with mini-lectures on key grammatical concepts by other established Signum faculty, this course provides an overview of English punctuation, spelling, and grammar for anyone who wants a refresher!
This Tier 1 module is open to all students, has no prerequisites, and may be repeated as many times as desired. Students participate in weekly discussions and workshops, complete weekly grammatical quizzes, and complete a final assessment.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Foundations in Critical Reading and Research. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (2-6 hours video; 8 hours discussion and workshops)

Assessments: weekly & summative

Goals and Skills:

• Students who complete the module should be able to write a grammatically correct paragraph that uses standard English punctuation throughout.
• Students may use this module to practice proofreading techniques.

This course is graduate level in intensity, with weekly and summative assessments

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This course is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This course and all modules within it have prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling in this course or its modules.

The world-famous Old Norse Eddic poetry corpus was collected in medieval Iceland, and represents a world literary treasure capturing a variety of mythic and legendary narratives from early Scandinavia and the wider Germanic tradition. This four-module course focuses on reading selections from this poetic literature in the original Old Norse, providing students with not only the opportunity to practice their skills in translating the Old Norse language but also to become more familiar with these narratives as windows into early medieval culture.

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity

All modules in this course assume competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Tolkien's Middle-earth in Context cluster and is recommended to be taken after "Concerning Monsters and Fairies".

This five-week module provides students with the information needed to articulate for themselves the context behind Tolkien’s master work, his The Lord of the Rings, through an in-depth analysis of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion acts as a source text, which consistently fueled Tolkien’s imagination as he wrote The Lord of the Rings. Students watch recorded lectures by Dr. Verlyn Flieger, participate in weekly discussions with a member of our graduate faculty, and complete a final writing project. The module may be repeated as many times as desired. Students are welcome to take modules individually and in any order that suits their scholarly needs, but this module builds upon ideas covered in "Concerning Monsters and Fairies."

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Tolkien's World of Middle-earth. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (9 hours video; 8 hours discussion

Assessments: summative (final project)

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1 focuses primarily on reading legendary poetry of the world-famous Eddic corpus. The poems we will read in this module include: Hlöðskviða and Fáfnismál. Special attention will be paid to reading Fáfnismál in its original manuscript.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class and in a summative exercise.

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 2 focuses on the legendary cycle of Eddic poetry, including the poems Sigrdrífumál and Guðrúnarkviða I. In addition to translating each of these poems in full, special attention will be paid to reading the texts in their original medieval manuscripts.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class; oral presentation at the end of the module

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module. Students are encouraged but not required to take "Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1" before taking this related module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Mythological Eddic Poetry explores three of the mythological poems of Old Norse, The poems in this module include: Grímnismál, Völuspá, and Skírnismál. Similarly to other Old Norse modules, we will explore and read the original medieval manuscripts of these poems secondarily to the main translation assignments.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class; summative writing assignment (c. 3000 words)

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Skaldic and Runic Poetry introduces two of the more difficult areas of Old Norse poetry: skaldic poetry, and runic inscriptions. For skaldic poetry, less attention will be paid to the manuscripts, but runic inscriptions with poetic text will be examined visually using digital images to learn how to decipher the original text.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class and summative project of the student's choice.

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes intermediate competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series and at least one Intermediate Old Norse module (Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1 or 2, or Old Norse Mythological Eddic Poetry) before attempting this module. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Tolkien's Middle-earth in Context cluster and is recommended to be taken after the other three modules in this cluster.

This five-week module provides students with the information needed to articulate for themselves the context behind Tolkien’s master work, his The Lord of the Rings, through an in-depth analysis of his most important essays. The module may be repeated as many times as desired. Students listen to recorded lectures, participate in weekly discussions, and complete a final writing project. Students are welcome to take modules individually and in any order that suits their scholarly needs, but this module builds upon ideas covered in the other modules in this cluster, particularly "Tolkien's Masterwork, Part I."

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Tolkien's World of Middle-earth. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (12 hours video; 8 hours discussion

Assessments: summative (final project)

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Tolkien's Middle-earth in Context cluster and is recommended to be taken after "Concerning Monsters and Fairies".

This five-week module provides students with the information needed to articulate for themselves the context behind Tolkien’s master work, his The Lord of the Rings, through an in-depth analysis of his most important essays. The module may be repeated as many times as desired. Students are welcome to take modules individually and in any order that suits their scholarly needs, but this module builds upon ideas in "Concerning Monsters and Fairies" and "The Silmarillion in Context". Students listen to recorded lectures, participate in weekly discussions, and complete a final writing project.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Tolkien's World of Middle-earth. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format: 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (9 hours video; 8 hours discussion

Assessments: summative (final project)

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This four-course series is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in Tolkien's Middle-earth in Context modules.

These four short, linked courses invite students to explore how Tolkien’s imagination came to create the world of Middle-earth. We will closely examine his scholarly work and his fiction in order to see the development of his thoughts on myth, fairy stories, and the elegy. Students will also review and practice skills that are critical to humanities studies, such as literary analysis and reading texts through critical lenses. These modules can be taken in any sequence and may be repeated as many times as desired to help students develop confidence and achieve mastery.

Note: Modules in this series draw extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Tolkien's World of Middle-earth. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Grammar, Citing, & Humanities Writing cluster.

Combining lectures and roundtables from Signum’s graduate faculty with interactive weekly tutorials, this five-week module is designed for students new to scholarly writing in the humanities, those returning to academic pursuits after time in other fields, or those who want to practice writing formal analysis of literary texts.
This Tier 1 module is open to all students and may be repeated as many times as desired, although we recommend completing the “Writing Formal Paragraphs” module before attempting this one. Students participate in weekly discussions and workshops, write weekly paragraphs, and complete a final written project.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Foundations in Critical Reading and Research. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

• Format:
• 4 weeks discussion; 1 week assessment (4 hours video; 8 hours discussion and workshops)
• Assessments: weekly & summative
• No additional books or materials required.

This course is graduate level in intensity, with weekly and summative assessments

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

This module is part of the Grammar, Citing, & Humanities Writing cluster.

Combining lectures and roundtables from Signum’s graduate faculty with interactive weekly tutorials, this five-week module is designed for students new to scholarly writing in the humanities, those returning to academic pursuits after time in other fields, or those who want to see just how challenging it can be to write a simple yet spectacular paragraph.
This Tier 1 module is open to all students, has no prerequisites, and may be repeated as many times as desired. Students participate in weekly discussions and workshops, write and revise paragraphs, and complete a final written project.

Note: This module draws extensively upon lectures originally recorded for Foundations in Critical Reading and Research. Students in the MA program who have taken (or plan to take) that course may find significant overlap in the core materials.

Format:

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity, with weekly and summative assessments

Fee: 2 Signum Tokens