December 2024 Modules

In this two-month module, we will read and discuss the Frank Herbert's final Dune novel, Chapterhouse Dune. The universe as we know it is gone, as the Honored Matres sweep across the stars and destroy everything in their path. On the remote world Chapterhouse, a handful of rebel Bene Gesserit fight to preserve the last sandworms and the hope of humanity...

Whether you are a new or continuing student in our Dune book club, all are welcome to join this class. Connect with book lovers, compare to the adaptations, and share your insights.

Let the spice flow!

Congratulations! You've written an epic manuscript. What comes next? In this module, we’ll discuss some factors to consider in your writing career and overview a wide spectrum of possibilities for publishing. We will begin by discussing traditional vs indie publishing and hybrid options. Which is the right choice for your work? In small-group discussions, we will help you define your career goals, come up with strategies for resilience, and workshop blurbs to sell the sizzle in your narrative. More than that, though, this module is about celebrating your achievement that is your novel!

Year of the Novel Note: Anyone is welcome to join our Year of the Novel modules at any time. Each module is designed to stand alone without prerequisites. However, for the richest experience, the carefully planned sequence of modules will carry you from blank page as far as you want toward completing your novel. In a writing journal, you will track your progress and moments of unexpected, joyful discovery as you continue your novel. Whether you are looking to publish commercially or simply writing for yourself, our program is designed to nurture your individual writing journey. Our workshops place kindness first, lifting up excellence and encouraging you to tell your story in your own voice. For more information about our Collaborative Feedback model, check out our video here.

Into the hush of the longest nights... come Stories! While others are recovering, we will be creating. Our format will include SPACE class sessions, WriterSpace focused writing time in excellent company, Bandersnatch Breakout rooms for talking about our craft as well as giving and receiving peer feedback, and an enthusiastic celebration of Story. So sharpen your quills, line up the inkpots, make a BIG casserole to last the weekend.

Here's the plan:
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Friday the 27th from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday the 28th from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday the 28th from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern:
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Sunday the 29th from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern
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Our goal is to create a completed first draft of a short work in one weekend! Prompts, planning, focus methods, peer encouragement, machete editing, character crucibles — we’ll do it all. Writers will write between sessions as well as during.

What did you do in 2024? Wrote a Story.

This course is for those who have an interest in Japanese culture and wish to continue our study of Japanese. We will continue using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, and covering grammatical structures. Through use of conversational Japanese, we will continue to explore how the language is used in anime, manga, and music.

Japanese is a language of great nuance and depth. This module will open the door to that world and build a foundation for greater insight into Japan's culture and its people.

Late medieval English drama brought episodes from The Bible to life in days-long festivals of pomp and pageantry—but what these plays really show us is the day-to-day lives of ordinary men and women of the Middle Ages. With a mixture of lavish spectacle, slapstick comedy, and intimate poignancy, these plays populate the biblical world with familiar figures of the medieval city-life: shrewd workmen and cunning criminals; disgruntled wives and worried husbands; the friends, family, and neighbors of the playwrights and performers.

This course looks at a sampling of plays from the great civic drama cycles of York, Chester, Coventry, and elsewhere, including Noah’s Flood, The Second Shepherd’s Play, Herod’s Slaughter of the Innocents, The Crucifixion, The Harrowing of Hell, and The Last Judgement. The works presented here offer both a grand history of the world from Creation to Doomsday, and locally-rooted, vernacular versions of a text then otherwise available only in Latin. Knowledge of Middle English is not required since this course will use the modern-spelling edition by Prof. A. C. Cawley. Scholarly online Middle English versions, however, will also be made available for students wishing to practice their skills in that area.

Shinkai Makoto is an anime director whose films are known for the hyperrealistic beauty of their background art, but also for their star-crossed lovers and the way they play with time. Shinkai's films are often considered "sekai-kei"; that is, the world may be in crisis, but we see this crisis from the point of view of individual lives. In this mini-module, we will watch several films, based on availability, as per the proposed outline below.

This mini-module will follow a 6-session structure as shown below:

Outline	6-Session Structure
Week 1	Session 1: Context and short films
	Session 2: The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Week 2	Session 3: Five Centimeters per Second
	Session 4: Your Name
Week 3	Session 5: Weathering With You
	Session 6: Suzume

Who was the real historical figure behind Santa Claus? In this module, we will read the earliest biographical sources about fourth century bishop, St Nicholas of Myra. Your preceptor will facilitate discussions of Nicholas' historical context and examine the development of his legend. Together, we will examine Byzantine stories of Nicholas' benefaction and miracles, his role as patron saint of seafarers, students and merchants (among others), and how he came to embody the tradition of gift-giving in Christendom. A wonderful end-of-year treat!

The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Introducing the Historical Nicholas
	Discussion 1: Early Sources (5th – 8th Centuries)
Week 2	Lecture 2: Literary Sources and Oral Storytelling
	Discussion 2: Michael the Archimandrite (9th Century)
Week 3	Lecture 3: Nicholas as Protector of Seafarers
	Discussion 3: Later Sources (9th-10th Centuries)
Week 4	Lecture 4: Nicholas and the High Middle Ages
	Discussion 4: The Translation of Nicholas

Module Description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

JRR Tolkien is one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: You and Me and the Cottage of Lost Play · The Little House of Lost Play: Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva
	Discussion 1: Courage Speaks to a Child of Earth · The Two Riders/ May Day in a Backward Year · May-Day/ / Princess Nî · The Princess Ní · Princess Mee
Week 2	Lecture 2: Tinfang Warble and Goblin Feet
	Discussion 2: The Happy Mariners · Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners/ Empty Chapel/ Kortirion among the Trees · The Trees of Kortirion
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Shores of Faery and Kôr: In a City Lost and Dead · The City of the Gods
	Discussion 3: The Pines of Aryador · A Song of Aryador/ The Pool of the Dead Year · The Pool of Forgetfulness/ Dark Are the Clouds about the North/ The Lonely Harebell · Elfalone
Week 4	Lecture 4: The Trumpet of Faery · The Trumpets of Faery · The Horns of the Host of Doriath
	Discussion 4: Narqelion/ Over Old Hills and Far Away/ The Wanderer’s Allegiance · The Sorrowful City · The Town of Dreams and the City of Present Sorrow · Wínsele Wéste, Windge Reste Réte Berofene · The Song of Eriol

Module Description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

JRR Tolkien is one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: You and Me and the Cottage of Lost Play · The Little House of Lost Play: Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva
	Discussion 1: Courage Speaks to a Child of Earth · The Two Riders/ May Day in a Backward Year · May-Day/ / Princess Nî · The Princess Ní · Princess Mee
Week 2	Lecture 2: Tinfang Warble and Goblin Feet
	Discussion 2: The Happy Mariners · Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners/ Empty Chapel/ Kortirion among the Trees · The Trees of Kortirion
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Shores of Faery and Kôr: In a City Lost and Dead · The City of the Gods
	Discussion 3: The Pines of Aryador · A Song of Aryador/ The Pool of the Dead Year · The Pool of Forgetfulness/ Dark Are the Clouds about the North/ The Lonely Harebell · Elfalone
Week 4	Lecture 4: The Trumpet of Faery · The Trumpets of Faery · The Horns of the Host of Doriath
	Discussion 4: Narqelion/ Over Old Hills and Far Away/ The Wanderer’s Allegiance · The Sorrowful City · The Town of Dreams and the City of Present Sorrow · Wínsele Wéste, Windge Reste Réte Berofene · The Song of Eriol

Module Description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):

JRR Tolkien is one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!

In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.

There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!

I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.

Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.

The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: You and Me and the Cottage of Lost Play · The Little House of Lost Play: Mar Vanwa Tyaliéva
	Discussion 1: Courage Speaks to a Child of Earth · The Two Riders/ May Day in a Backward Year · May-Day/ / Princess Nî · The Princess Ní · Princess Mee
Week 2	Lecture 2: Tinfang Warble and Goblin Feet
	Discussion 2: The Happy Mariners · Tha Eadigan Saelidan: The Happy Mariners/ Empty Chapel/ Kortirion among the Trees · The Trees of Kortirion
Week 3	Lecture 3: James Tauber Lecture - The Shores of Faery and Kôr: In a City Lost and Dead · The City of the Gods
	Discussion 3: The Pines of Aryador · A Song of Aryador/ The Pool of the Dead Year · The Pool of Forgetfulness/ Dark Are the Clouds about the North/ The Lonely Harebell · Elfalone
Week 4	Lecture 4: The Trumpet of Faery · The Trumpets of Faery · The Horns of the Host of Doriath
	Discussion 4: Narqelion/ Over Old Hills and Far Away/ The Wanderer’s Allegiance · The Sorrowful City · The Town of Dreams and the City of Present Sorrow · Wínsele Wéste, Windge Reste Réte Berofene · The Song of Eriol