Welcome to The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen (Littrans 275 and Scandst 375). This is the summer distance version of this course.

Niels Ingwersen and Scott A. Mellor developed this course. It is primarily Mr. Ingwersen you see in the broadcast.

The instructor for this course is Scott A. Mellor. You can contact him by phone at 262-0863, or email him at samellor@wisc.edu.

About this Course
This is a distance education course, so students do not need to reside in Madison. All course activities are completed online. Students view lectures, take quizzes, and participate in bulletin board discussions. See How to Take This Course to learn what is expected of you.

The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
A number of Hans Christian Andersen's tales, well-known as well as not, will be examined during the next fifteen weeks.

Andersen is a splendid storyteller--he entertains us well--but in order to dispel some common, but sorely mistaken, notions about him, please keep in mind that Andersen is not a sweetly amiable, pleasant, sentimentally naive and childlike storyteller. He can pretend to be all that, but the best of his tales have a sting; they are humorous, but darkly so; and they probe into moral and existential issues that remain with us.

Hans Christian Andersen loved to tell stories to children, but he loathed the reputation that he was only a children's author. His stories explore the human soul and deal with its complexity. Do not expect simplicity--expect the opposite!