CHRISTIAN LITERATURE, MEDIEVAL AND HUMANIST
cod. 1004614

Academic year 2016/17
1° year of course - First semester
Professor responsible for the course unit
ROTA Gualtiero
integrated course unit
12 credits
hub:
course unit
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Course unit structured in the following modules:

Learning objectives

Ancient Christian Literature (Prof. Rota):
That of Ancient Christian Literature is an advanced course aiming to provide students with thorough methodological skills in the fields of linguistics and philology in order for critical methodology, translation techniques and critical reading and interpretation of Ancient Christian Greek and Latin literary texts to be fully developed.
Classroom lectures, which are supplemented by practice and personal tutor sessions, will focus on critical reading and advanced interpretation of the texts provided. Students will also be requested to apply translation techniques and critical analysis in a research paper on a topic of choiche that they will have to submit at the end of term.
At the end of the course students should be able to translate complex texts and properly present the results of their researches.


Medieval and Humanistic Latine Literature (Prof.ssa Voce):
The course of medieval Latin literature and humanities provides specific knowledge of both language and literature of the Middle Ages and of Renaissance humanism, allowing students to acquire advanced skills as well as substantial and methodological critical understanding of literary texts in Latin. Knowledge and skills will be developed through classes homework and reports on specific topics. Students must be able to work on selected authors applying methodological tools provided during lessons to other contexts and literary texts. They must also be able to examine and critically interpret texts and philological, linguistic and literary issues so to be able to express personal hypotheses on both content and socio-cultural context issues. Students must be able to present trough proper scientific language, the results of their research to fellow students. The study of Medieval and humanistic literature and language provides methodological, analytical and critical skills necessary in the final stages of the students' carrer (creation of repotrs etc.) and possibly helpful in the transition towards their futur jobs (i. e. as teachers).

Prerequisites

None

Course unit content

Ancient Christian Literature (Prof. Rota):
The course (Forgery and forgers: ancient christian literature and forgeries) will focus on forgeries within ancient christian literature.

Medieval and Humanistic Latine Literature (Prof.ssa Voce):

The course will be structured as follows:
a) Medieval and Humanistic Latin Literature: context and overview;
b) Heresy in the Middle Ages, with particular attention to women's heretical movements (Guglielma from Milan and the children of the Holy Spirit).

Full programme

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Bibliography

Ancient Christian Literature (Prof. Rota):
1) M. SIMONETTI, E. PRINZIVALLI, Storia della letteratura cristiana antica, EDB Editore, Bologna 2010;
2) J. SCHRIJNEN, I caratteri del latino cristiano antico; con un’appendice di Christine Mohrmann: dopo quarant’anni, ed. it. Pàtron, Bologna 2002.

Students of Classics will be assigned specific bibliography according to their particular cultural desiderata.

Medieval and Humanistic Latine Literature (Prof.ssa Voce):

Edoardo D'Angelo, La letteratura latina medievale: una storia per generi, Roma 2009 (some authors).

2) Storia della letteratura italiana. Il Trecento, a cura di E. Malato, Roma, Salerno 1995 (cap. X Francesco Petrarca); Il Quattrocento, a cura di E. Malato, Roma, Salerno 1996 (capitoli: II parr. 1- 13, e 23-24; IV (parr. 1-10); V (parr. 1-3); VII (tutto).

Teaching methods

Ancient Christian Literature (Prof. Rota):
Selected passages from Greek and Latin Christian writers' works will be read, translated and commented during classroom activities, special focus being placed on intertextuality as well as on rhetorical devices and figures of speech. Selected bibliography will be provided during lessons and students will be guided towards the elaboration of a research paper on a topic of their choice through personal tutor sessions scaled up and down according to each student’s needs.


Medieval and Humanistic Latine Literature (Prof.ssa Voce):
After a brief overview of Medieval and Humanistic historical and literary background, they will be illustrated some popular heretical movements in the Middle Ages, and we will focus on the figure of Guglielma from Milan and the his group of followers called "sons of the Spirit Saint". It could be expected reading some acts of the holy Inquisition which sanctioned the condemnation of such movements. The course will also feature students' papers.

Assessment methods and criteria

Ancient Christian Literature (Prof. Rota):
Before being assessed, students will need to present their research paper during classroom lectures or at the end of the course.
The final assessment aims to test:
1) proper reading and translation of Greek and Latin Christian texts;
2) critical and interpretation skills along with the ability to produce personal reinterpretation and interdisciplinary links;
3) complexity of the topic selected for the research paper; 4) oral proficiency; correct use of language; ability to give proper answers to given questions.

Students will have to fully achieve the first two assessment criteria and score a minimum of 60 percent or better to get a pass grade.
The final score will be calculated by the arithmetic mean of the partial scores of the two courses.


Medieval and Humanistic Latine Literature (Prof.ssa Voce):
The student's work will be evaluated on the basis of:
-Papers presented during classes,
-Papers presented at the final exam, where general knowledge of medieval and humanistic literature wil be evaluated, so as the comprehension of the latin text (context, content and meanin) wil be tested.

Students will be assessed on: written and oral proficiency; correct use of language; personal reinterpretation of contents; ability to make inter-disciplinary connections; proper use of specialist language; ability to give proper answers to given questions.

Students will have to score a minimum of 60 percent or better of the given question to get a pass grade.
The final score will be calculated by the arithmetic mean of the partial scores of the two courses.

Other information

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