March 2025 Modules

Welcome to the Readings in Prose page for the Advanced Old English Series in which students explore, in alternating months, a work of prose and then a work of poetry to introduce students to the breadth and depth of Old English texts available for study. Each month Dr. Swain surveys the group to see what they want to tackle next from month to month.

From TV shows to computer games, the Vikings still manage to capture our imagination and ensnare us in an odd mix of fact and fiction. But who were they really? This new series aims to take a deep dive and provide challenging perspectives about the real Norse characters that shaped medieval Europe.

The Vikings (ca. 800-1100) would be impossible to understand without the geography and society that produced them. In this module, we will explore the intricate social and political frameworks that shaped Viking Age Scandinavia and investigate the interplay between kinship, community hierarchies, and power dynamics that underpinned Norse society.

Topics include the general context of Scandinavian history, social order, the importance of thing assemblies, the influence of chieftains and kings in regional power struggles, but also lesser discussed aspects such as the roles of women. By integrating primary sources such as chronicles, law codes, sagas as well as the latest archaeological findings and research methods, we will develop a nuanced understanding of how the Norse functioned and what enabled them to exert far-reaching influence across Europe and beyond.

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

Outline	8-Session Structure
Week 1	Lecture 1: Ancient Scandinavia and the Beginnings of the Viking age
	Discussion 1: Discussion about Lecture 1 material
Week 2	Lecture 2: Social structures and daily life
	Discussion 2: Discussion about Lecture 2 material
Week 3	Lecture 3: Chieftains, kings and warriors
	Discussion 3: Discussion about Lecture 3 material
Week 4	Lecture 4: Women of the Viking age
	Discussion 4: Discussion about Lecture 3 material

A Feast of Writing!

In one weekend, we're going to celebrate creativity by attempting a complete short story, novelette, or novella! Our format will include SPACE class sessions, WriterSpace focused writing time in excellent company, Bandersnatch Breakout room for talking about our craft and 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 from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Eastern
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Saturday from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern:
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Sunday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern
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Our goal is to create a completed first draft 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.

You are going to end this amazing experience with a complete first draft of your story!


Note: For more information about the Collaborative Feedback Method in SPACE, please check out our video here.

We will meet to blend learning, discussion, and playing games with reading, appreciating, and commenting on one another’s work as it is submitted for peer review. Writers are encouraged—but never required—to submit new pieces in any state of draftiness or readiness up to 2,000 words each week for peer reading and feedback. Our Collaborative Feedback method, developed here at Signum University, asks us to comment at the author's comfort level through a structured reader (not editor) response. We gather to encourage the story that the author wants to tell. Our philosophy of kindness first might just turn around your previous experience of writing groups.





A seat has been reserved in this module for any writer (especially a beginner) of marginalized identity to support them finding their voice. Please simply write to [email protected] to identify yourself if you wish to join the class.





Note: For more information about the Collaborative Feedback Method in SPACE, please check out our video here.

Sei Shōnagon 清少納言 is a major writer of the Heian period (794-1185) whose Makura no Sōshi 枕草子 (The Pillow Book) has intrigued and delighted reading audiences for centuries. Colorful, witty, incisive, charming, thoughtful, melancholy, poetic---these qualities and more characterize this diary of the famous lady of the court. Join us as we read this text in-depth and place it within the frame of the flow of Japanese culture and history.

This is the third module in our Gothic language series introducing the vocabulary and grammar of the Gothic language, the oldest attested body of literature in a Germanic language (4th century AD), not just by talking about grammar, but by doing real translations of real Gothic texts.

Join us as we continue learning (advanced) basic Japanese, focusing on the areas of reading and listening comprehension, with some attention to speaking and writing. Over the course of this module series we will work our way through the Genki II textbook, building upon the foundation built from the Genki I text. 一緒に日本語を勉強しませんか

From the subcreation of Ulmo to travels from Cornwall to Avallonë, the Sea has played a special role in Tolkien’s world. This module looks at key instances of the Sea’s appearance in his writing corpus so that fellow readers can more fully appreciate the haunting beauty of water’s meaning and Tolkien’s imaginative ability. We will be reading excerpts from Tolkien’s legendarium, poetry, and creative historical works.