Comparative Mythology in Depth: Contemporary Scholarship, Living Traditions, and Methodological Debate

The field of comparative mythology has undergone significant revision in the decades since Campbell and Eliade dominated popular and academic discourse. Indigenous scholars have challenged the extractive assumptions of universalist frameworks; cognitive scientists have offered evolutionary explanations that bypass both structuralism and depth psychology; and specialists in specific traditions have pushed back against comparative generalizations that obscure local meaning. This course engages those debates directly, equipping students to participate in contemporary mythological scholarship with critical awareness. By the end of this course you will be able to situate your own analytical practice within contemporary debates in comparative mythology, engage with Indigenous and postcolonial critiques of universalist comparative methods, apply cognitive and evolutionary approaches to mythological analysis, and develop an ethically informed, methodologically self-aware approach to cross-cultural myth study. What you will learn: - The postcolonial critique of comparative mythology: how scholars from Wendy Doniger to Vine Deloria Jr. have challenged the power dynamics embedded in comparative frameworks - Indigenous perspectives on myth: how Indigenous scholars and communities understand the status and proper use of their mythological traditions, and what this means for academic comparison - Cognitive science and mythology: E. Thomas Lawson, Pascal Boyer, and the cognitive science of religion — what it can and cannot explain about mythological universals - Evolutionary approaches: David Sloan Wilson's and Walter Burkert's claims about the adaptive functions of myth and their critics - Living mythological traditions: how myths function in contemporary religious communities that still understand them as sacred narrative, not as literary texts for academic analysis - Myth and contemporary popular culture: the adaptation of mythological archetypes in fiction, film narrative structure, and brand storytelling — and the scholarly debate about whether this represents genuine mythological function - Developing a personal methodological position: how to articulate which analytical frameworks you find most productive, which you reject, and why — with intellectual honesty - Research skills in comparative mythology: primary sources, key scholarly journals, annotated bibliographies, and research methodologies for advanced independent study The course is structured around engagement with actual scholarly texts, debate analysis exercises, and extended reflective essays. You will read excerpts from key contemporary scholars and produce your own analytical responses to their positions. This course is written for students who have completed substantial study in comparative mythology and want to engage contemporary scholarship at depth. Suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and serious independent scholars. The course presents multiple scholarly perspectives and does not advocate for any single theoretical framework.