CCE

Magazines as FYC texts?

In a casual discussion about choosing texts for FYC, one of my colleagues mentioned an exciting semester he'd had using Harper's. (The bookstore put in an order for 3-4 months worth, and each month students went in to pick up their copy. The only challenge he mentioned was having to read through each issue quickly himself,in order to direct flow of course, design assignments, etc.) I'm intrigued by the idea, but a little worried about reading level. Has anyone tried such an experiment (or perhaps is that yr usual method of operations)? What magazine did you use? I'd love to hear any reports of rewards and/or difficulties or general speculations about how you think such an approach might work.

Mythology Textbooks:

Know of any?  I'm going to be teaching a section of Mythology in the fall.  At our school, it's a 100 -level course , and I'd Iike to find a textbook that presents world myth and mythic themes in a comprehensive and comprehensible (not to mention inexpensive) way.  I haven't taught this course in six years, and used three books (most of which I can't recall).  I may use Rosenberg's World Mythology  again, or her Myth, Folklore and Legend text, which just arrived Friday.  I'm going to augment the course with a field trip to a labyrinth, a few Joseph Campbell videos, a text on Sacred Geometry as archetype and some websites that I've been compiling for the past year--all of these resources are free, and if I can find a good, inexpensive textbook, I'll be one happy crone.

I'm also interested in any suggestions of mythic themes played out in music or drama or dance--I could teach this course for twelve credits per semester and not feel like I've hit everything I want to cover. 

Thanks in advance.