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Are you planning to travel to Japan and would like to communicate and get by? This crash course is designed for the traveler who wants to interact with the locals. Learn to order with confidence at restaurants, buy at a konbini , and ask for directions without pulling out your phone. With guest speaker, Dr. Robert Steed, we will also also explore etiquette and cultural aspects, one phrase at a time. Get ready for a wonderful adventure! *Note: some familiarity with kana is is recommended when traveling in Japan, but is not required for this module. Class outline: Session 1: Greeting someone, saying thank you, expressing where you’re from, Kana practice. Session 2: Counting objects, days of the week, months, recognizing Kanji Session 3: Buying things, at the konbini, recognizing Kanji Session 4: Getting around, recognizing Kanji Session 5: Ordering Food Session 6: Arriving at a hotel and discovering the surroundings, recognizing Kanji Session 7: Emergencies and asking for help, recognizing Kanji Session 8: Putting it all together [show less]

Why do fairy tales captivate us across cultures and centuries? What transforms a simple tale into something that lingers in the imagination for a lifetime? J.R.R. Tolkien grappled with such questions in his landmark essay "On Fairy-stories", and his answers revolutionized how we understand fantasy literature. This course invites you to explore the intellectual and imaginative foundations beneath The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as we dive into one of Tolkien's most important works of literary theory. Far from a dry academic treatise, "On Fairy-stories" is a passionate defence of imagination itself, as Tolkien champions fantasy as a serious genre for adults that offers "recovery, escape, and consolation," allowing us to see our own world with fresh wonder. Tolkien challenges us to reconsider what we dismiss as mere children's entertainment and recognize fairy stories as a sophisticated art form that speaks to our deepest human needs. In this course, we will discuss all of these ideas, alongside why Tolkien believed that creating imaginary worlds is a fundamentally human act, one that echoes the divine act of creation itself. Through our reading of "On Fairy-stories", we will discover new ways of appreciating not just Tolkien's own fiction, but the entire tradition of imaginative storytelling. Come ready to think deeply, share insights, and rediscover the power of stories that begin “once upon a time.” [show less]

A language that came into existence only 800-900 years ago out of need for interaction and turned into a romantic version of Indo-Aryan languages, Urdu has the capacity of beauty, sharing, absorption and depth. With an inventory of a large number of consonants and a set of simple vowels and Indo-Aryan sentence structure, Urdu has complexity which can only accompany poetic beauty and lexical opulence. We will study the script, sounds, and basic vocabulary as well as sentence structure and grammar; so next time you have tea with your Urdu speaking friends, you can have a conservation about music and food. [show less]

Figures and stories from Celtic mythology appear frequently in pop culture, books, games, and films. The phrase ‘Celtic mythology’ generally refers to the pre-Christian polytheistic beliefs held by the people living in the British Isles before the Roman invasion. However, not a single primary source has survived from the Celts themselves concerning their own mythology; all we have are later Roman and Christian texts describing Celtic cultures, and these are far from objective sources of information. The prevailing picture we have of a Celtic mythology is an amalgamation of a handful of medieval texts, and a world of historical imagination. As the leading scholar Mark Williams states, popular representations of Celtic mythology are often "retellings of retellings, in which dubious 'truths' about Celtic myth are endlessly recycled." So what can we know about the Celtic pantheon? Join me as I guide an exploration into the depths of British history and come face-to-face with Celtic mythology. This course offers a rich exploration of history and literature in conversation, designed for anyone drawn to mythology, pre-Christian belief systems, and the enduring allure of “Celtic” art and identity. Together we will uncover how and why these myths have been reshaped, misrepresented, and revived—and what that reveals about the cultures that told and retold them. Along the way, you may find not only a clearer understanding of these powerful narratives, but also fresh inspiration for your own creative and intellectual engagement with them. Course sessions: 1. Sources: Unpicking the Evidence 2. Webs of Irish, Welsh, Germanic and Norse Mythologies 3. Case Study: Brigid 4. Sacred Sites: Geography and Mythology 5. Material Evidence: Visual Art and Objects that tell Celtic Stories 6. Ossian and the Eighteenth-Century 7. The Fabulous Victorians 8. Scholarship to the Present and Beyond [show less]

Would you like to learn what those strange symbols in the Dictionary mean? Do you wonder what are units of words or why a it is difficult to pronounce the French 'R' or Italian Trill? In this module, we will take a little walk in the music of meaningful sounds, their representations, interactions and transformations. In order to "see" the sounds, we will record them and analyze their structure. This is an introduction to the musical world of Phonetics where we will listen, speak, write, and visualize sounds and learn their names. [show less]