Food & Cultural Appreciation, Tuesday Third Period

[carbsliftthespirit]

"All right, guys, gather around," Raiden said once all of his students had assembled at the Portalocity office. "I assume everyone is here for Food and Culture whatever the hell I called it when I filled out that form. The class where we go places and eat the food. If you're not here for that then I don't know what to tell you other than you're missing out.

( Warning: this class will make you hungry )

World Mythology, Tuesday, 2nd Period.

[atreideslioness]

The return of fall also brought the return of a pair of Atreides to the teaching-side of Fandom High.

Ghanima was sitting on her desk, eating lemon drops as she watched the students arrive, blue-on-blue eyes intently observing them all. Trebor was perfectly happy in his playpen, amusing himself with some blocks. He was a far cry from the infant that had spent so much time in the baby-wrap when she had first returned to the island.

As usual, all of the student desks had been relegated to storage in favor of divans, cushions, and other comfortable seating. Once the last of the students arrived, her face lit up with a smile.

"Good morning," she said, her voice carrying effortlessly. "I am Lady Ghanima Atreides, and this is World Mythology. You may call me Lady Ghanima or Miss Ghanima, whichever you are more comfortable with. The first person to call me Lady Atreides gets detention." Ghani grinned wickedly. "Lady Atriedes is my grandmother, and I am nowhere near that old. And this young man--" she gestured down to her son, "--is my co-teacher, Trebor. Don't let his sweet looks fool you, he is very demanding."

She had been doing this for over a decade, and now had a toddler -- fifteen months! -- with her. And yet, Ghanima herself still didn't look a day over twenty-one.

"This is a survey class," she continued, "--intended to give you a gentle introduction to various pantheons and mythologies around the world. We will not be covering any country in-depth, instead, consider this a whirlwind tour. If you are looking for the class about gods as real people, you will want to join Professors Blake and Foster on Mondays."

"During this class, I’m going to ask you to keep in mind that many stories we consider today to be folklore or myths were originally part of a religion. I’m going to ask that you keep an open mind, and try not to let any ethnocentric biases show too badly. Yes, you may consider tales of the Tuatha de Danan or the Morrigan to be nothing more than fairy stories, but to someone else it may be a fundamental truth."

"Today we will start with the definition of a myth.” Ghanima hopped off the desk and grabbed a stack of handouts, beginning to distribute them around the room.

"In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, or folkloristics, a myth (mythos) is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to be in their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false."

"For the purpose of this class, myths are stories that originate in the beliefs of nations and races and present episodes in which supernatural forces operate. Some myths try to make visible and concrete ways that humans see nature, like the division of the year into seasons. Many myths show the ways that humans see the forces that control them, and often explain creation, religion, and divinities; they guess at the meaning of life and death, or at the cause for good and evil."

"Now, it is important to separate myths from other types of stories. Mythology is frequently confused with fiction, legend, fairy tale, folklore, fable, and urban legend, each of which has a distinct meaning in academia. There is also epic poetry, which may retell a myth, but not every epic poem is a myth – many are legends or folklore."

"The effective telling of a myth usually has some sense of dignity or simplicity, even for the entertaining or amusing ones, for it tries to re-create the spirit and intention of the original. When myths are poorly told, they condescend to or even insult the efforts of earlier societies to find meaning in life. When myths are well told, they appeal to something deep within us."

"Instead of doing the typical introductions, I'd like to hear about the myths near and dear to your hearts."

Ethics, Tuesday, September 3, 2024

[sith_happened]

"Welcome to Ethics class," Anakin said, sweeping in with his cloak fluttering around his booted legs. "I see a few familiar faces."

"And a few new students," Ahsoka added, nodding at the class. "In this class we're going to be taking something of a practical approach. Ideals don't really mean anything if you don't at least attempt to live up to them."

"Sometimes those ideals crumble faster than you think they will," Anakin said, "and sometimes other people don't live up to your expectations."

Not that either of those statements applied to anyone in this room.

"As an example, we'll start off with introductions and a game of two truths and a lie," Ahsoka said. "After all, lying is generally considered unethical."

"But it's also one of the first ideals to get stretched," Anakin said. "Every child will lie to attempt to get out of taking responsibility for an error."

"Then you get the grown adults who claim that the truth all depends on a certain point of view." Again, not a statement that applied to anyone in this classroom. At all.

Anakin laughed. ."Well, sometimes it does. Not always, though. So for today's introductory exercise, we will do two truths and a lie."