Reading Ulysses at the Rosenbach:

Syllabus

Instructor: Beth Blum, University of Pennsylvania. bethblum [at] sas [dot] upenn [dot] edu

Contact: Farrar Fitzgerald, Education Coordinator, Rosenbach Museum and Library. farrarf [at] rosenbach [dot] org (215) 732-1600 ext. 135

This course offers a directed, yet collaborative, forum for approaching one of the most famously difficult (and rewarding!) novels ever written: James Joyce’s Ulysses. Our sessions will be discussion-based, so please come ready to share any questions or epiphanies generated from your reading. Each class will begin with a short lecture providing some context for the chapter under discussion, with a particular emphasis on Joyce’s relation to the broader movement of “high modernism.” At the same time, we will approach Ulysses through a series of close readings, focusing on particular passages, paying attention to the nuances of Joyce’s style, language, and imagery.

Required Text:

Joyce, James. Ulysses (1922). Preferred Edition: Ulysses: The Corrected Text. Ed. Hans Walter Gabler et al. (New York Random House, 1986).

Recommended Texts:

Gifford, Don & Robert Seidmann,

Ulysses Annotated: Deluxe Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.

For a short, straightforward guide: Heffernan, Laura. Sparknotes Guide to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Spark publishing, 2007.

For an accessible interpretive guide to each chapter: Hart, Clive and David Hayman eds. James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: Critical Essays. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1977.

*Please come to the first session on October 6th having read the first two chapters of Ulysses.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes #1 “Telemachus” & #2 “Nestor”

Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes #3 “Proteus” & #4 “Calypso”

Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes #5 “Lotus Eaters” & #6 “Hades” & #7 “Aeolus.”

Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes #8 “Lestrygonians” & #9 “Scylla & Charybdis” & #10 “Wandering Rocks

Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes #11 “Sirens” & #12 “Cyclops”

Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episodes # 13 “Nausicaa” & 14 “Oxen of the Sun”

Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

      Episode #15 “Circe”

Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 6:00pm - 7:45pm

     Episodes # 16 “Eumaeus” & #17 “Ithaca”

Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 6:00 - 7:45pm

      Episode # 18 “Penelope”

• optional supplementary readings & handouts will be provided as we progress