One of the most enduring legends in the western literature is that of King Arthur, his knights, and their ladies. Almost every age has produced a version of the myth of Camelot. But what is it about this medieval tale that is so interesting? Are there universal themes appearing in these stories that allow people to connect with the characters of Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Lancelot, Morgan le Fay and Mordred? What can we learn about heroism, justice, loyalty, love, honor, and gender from these stories? How might these stories be relevant to our world today? This course will explore the early beginnings of the Arthur tales, like “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Sir Thomas Mallory’s “The Death of Arthur”, and Cretien de Troyes Arthurian romances, before tackling modern retellings, such as T. H. White’s “Once and Future King”. We will also compare how the stories have been adapted to the screen, for example, Excalibur and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Meet Your Professor
Department Chair of History, Associate Professor of History
I am from the San Francisco Bay Area, California, but have lived all over the country before landing here at Simpson College. I went to college at a small liberal arts college called Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where I majored in history. I had always been interested in history, most likely because we lived in very historical places, especially in the South. Wherever I looked, history had happened and I simply became fascinated with the past. So a history major seemed like a natural choice when I went to college. After graduating from college, I worked in the corporate world for a few years before pursuing my graduate studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. I received my PhD in 2007 and arrived here at Simpson that same year.
One of the best things about teaching here at Simpson is getting to know my students as people and being able to share my interest and passion for history with them. I am very excited about teaching this course on the legends of King Arthur as I have been long fascinated by the topic. My specialty in history is England so my interest in King Arthur is born out of my love for all things English.
Some of the things that I enjoy when not teaching are reading, bike riding, finding whatever the dog has hidden in the house for later, cooking new things, binge-watching Netflix, photography, and traveling internationally.
Meet Your SC Leader
Hi! My name is Rachel Miller, and I’m from New Providence, IA. This fall I will be a junior at Simpson majoring in History with a possible minor in Political Science.
I’m an Iowa History Center Scholar at Simpson, as well as a Wesley Service Scholar, and I’m involved in Simpson Theatre and Women’s Chorale as well. I work as a UGA in Admissions so I probably did a lot of the behind the scenes work for your visit if you came to Simpson before this year! I studied abroad my freshman year for May Term in Europe for a class on World War II, and it has been by far been the highlight of my Simpson career so far.
I love Harry Potter, binge-watching Merlin and the Office on Netflix, and taking naps. I also love playing sports, especially tennis, and going to on-campus events like Bingo and winning awesome prizes! I am also low-key obsessed with french fries – just ask any of my friends.
I’m extremely excited to be working with all of you this semester as your SC leader for Finding Camelot, and I look forward to getting to know you! Feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook if you have any questions, and I look forward to meeting all of you at SOAR! Go Storm!
Meet Your Writing Fellow
Soon!