M.A./Ph.D. in Mythological Studies
Mythology and Religious Traditions
The foundation of Mythological Studies at Pacifica is the close reading of primary texts from a variety of cultural and religious traditions. These courses encourage interdisciplinary scholarship, giving particular attention to myths, iconography, symbols, religious beliefs, and ritual practices. Historical and contemporary approaches to the study of myth are also carefully reviewed.
The Arthurian Romances of the Holy Grail
MS 502........ 2 Units
An exploration of the origins and development of the mythologies of the Arthurian knights and quests for the Holy Grail. The course begins with the sacred traditions of the European Middle Ages, as manifested in the literature and arts of the period and then tracks the transmission and transformation of the myths in the Romantic and Modern periods of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Hindu Traditions
MS 503........ 2 Units
This course explores selected aspects and primary texts of Hindu traditions. Special attention is given to prominent myths and symbols in Indian culture, epic literature, and other primary texts, as well as influential philosophical systems such as Yoga, Sankhya, Vedanta, Tantra and Kashmir Shaivism. Depth psychological interpretations of key thematic issues, doctrines, and practices will also be examined.
Greek and Roman Mythology I
MS 505........ 2 Units
This course explores the most important contemporary approaches to the study of classical mythology. It also looks at how the poets of ancient Greece reworked inherited mythic themes and plots. It engages in close readings of the cultic and bardic poems known as The Homeric Hymns and of the lyric poetry of Sappho. Dramatic poetry, both tragic and comic, of the 5th century Athens is also examined. Attention is given both to the role these myths played in their original historical context and to their ongoing archetypal significance.
African and African Diaspora Traditions
MS 506........ 2 Units
The myths and rituals of Africa are a rich legacy, still vital today. Moreover they endure, in adaptive form, in Vodou, Santeria, and other religions of the African Diaspora. The course explores common mythic characters, themes, rituals, symbol systems, and world views in Africa and traces their connection to New World Traditions.
Myth and Philosophy
MS 515........ 2 Units
This course examines the historical relationship between myth and philosophy in the West. Rationality and science emerged as the revolutionary critique of myth, but that revolution is not beyond criticism. Myth represents a meaningful expression of the world, different from, and not always commensurate with, the kind of understanding sought by philosophers. The notion that philosophy has corrected the ignorance of the past is challenged while philosophy itself is shown to exhibit elements of the mythic world from which it emerged.
Native Mythologies of the Americas
MS 522........ 2 Units
This course explores the meanings of selected mythic texts from North American, Mesoamerican, and South American traditions. It considers these texts not only in regard to their manifest narratives and images, but also seeks an understanding of their potential interpreters. This factor, involving history and hermeneutics within a context of Euro-American colonialism, presents important methodological as well as political issues for working in mythological studies, and the course engages such issues as it surveys these texts.
Colloquium
MS 540, 640, 740 ........ 1 Unit Each
This series is an exploration of critical issues pertaining to the study of myth in relation to religious traditions, literature, depth psychology, and culture. The course is based on a guest lecture by a major scholar in the field of mythology. Pass/No Pass
Ritual
MS 603........ 2 Units
Myth and ritual are inextricably related. This course proposes that ritual offers an equally eloquent, though no-discursive, commentary on the human condition. The aims are: to make students familiar with classic theories of ritual process; to explore comparatively fundamental ritual phenomena across cultures, such as initiation, divination, purification and healing, pilgrimage, sacrifice, masking, and funerary rituals; and to assess the association of myth and ritual in religious traditions and depth psychology.
Buddhist Traditions
MS 605........ 2 Units
This course focuses on selected aspects and primary texts of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions. Particular attention is given to the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as the myths associated with major bodhisattvas. Key thematic issues, doctrines, and practices are examined from a depth psychological perspective.
Alchemy and the Hermetic Tradition
MS 605........ 2 Units
This course focuses on the Hermetic tradition (broadly conceived as a synthesis of alchemy, Kabbalah, Platonic philosophy, theology, and mythology) from its Egyptian, Greek, and Arabic origins during the Hellenistic era, to its development in the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. The approach is interdisciplinary, embracing Jungian psychology, literature, music, and the visual arts.
Integrative Studies Process I, II, III
MS 627, 628, 629........ 0 Units
Preparation for the Comprehensive Exam is facilitated by class discussion pertaining to theoretical perspectives and thematic issues raised by first and second year coursework. This process also includes guest lectures on special topics. Pass/No Pass
Integrative Studies
MS 630........ 1 Unit
This course is designed to assess students' understanding of theoretical perspectives on myth and their ability to apply these perspectives to a particular tradition. It also evaluates the ability to reflect on myth in relation to depth psychology., literature, and cultural issues. This course serves as the Comprehensive Exam for the Mythological Studies Program. Pass/No Pass
Greek and Roman Mythology II
MS 705........ 2 Units
This course explores the critiques of myth and poetry put forward to Plato and Aristotle in 4th century Greece, as well as the new understandings and revisionings of myth put forward in the Hellenistic period and in early imperial Rome. Particular attention is given to the works of Virgil, Ovid, and Apuleius.
Egyptian Mythology
MS 717........ 2 Units
The mythology that informs the ancient Egyptian way of life and death is the subject of this course. It explores the principal Egyptian creation myths, gods, goddesses, motifs, symbols, temple ritual, pyramid building, and mummification. The night sea journey of the sun god Re and that of the deceased Pharaoh, and eventually of all deceased Egyptians, is studied through Pyramid, Coffin, and mortuary texts, particularly the Amduat. The Isis and Osiris myth receives particular attention, and its reverberations across literature, alchemy, and depth psychology are followed.
Hebrew and Jewish Mythology
MS 702........ 2 Units
This course studies Hebrew and Jewish monotheism form a mythological perspective. The focus is on the emergence of monotheism in early Israel and on trying to understand the ways in which this mythic system differs from polytheistic traditions. Attention is given to how this mythology develops and changes in relation to changing historical circumstances, not only within the Biblical period but throughout the course of Jewish history.
Christian Traditions
MS 703........ 2 Units
This course examines Christian narratives, images, archetypes and symbols within a historical context. It provides an epistemological basis for a mythological and depth psychological hermeneutics. Key themes include cultural influences and theological paradigms of the Greek East and the Latin West, mysticism, iconoclasm, and post-Reformation worldviews.
Islamic Traditions
MS 608........ 2 Units
This course explores the major historical traditions of Islam, including Sufism, as well as modern religious movements. Special attention is given to central themes in the Qur'an and the life of Mohammad. The cultural clash between Islam and the West is also examined.
