Seton Hall University Honors Program

HONS 1102 AA and BB

Colloquium on Medieval Civilization

 Spring 2009

Fahy 101 and 108

 This syllabus is still under construction; this is the

April 23, 2009 version 

d
FacultyClass Schedule and AssignmentsCourse RequirementsCourse MethodologyResources


Faculty:

Dr. Peter Ahr: office FH 305 (973-761-9741); office hours Tuesday and Thursday 1-2, and by appointment.  email ahrpeter@shu.edu

Dr. David P. Bénéteau: office FH 219 (973-275-2718); office hours Tuesday and Thursday 1-2,, and by appointment. email beneteda@shu.edu

Dr. Ines Murzaku:  office FH 329 (973-275-5845); office hours Tuesday and Thursday 2-4 and by appointment.  email murzakui@shu.edu

Dr. Gisela Webb: office FH 326 (973-761-9461); office hours Tuesday and Thursday 1-3, and by appointment.  email webbgise@shu.edu
 

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Methodology

In the colloquium on medieval civilization, we will be looking at several major cultures which developed across the world between approximately the sixth century C.E. and the sixteenth century C.E.  These cultures have, we believe, several features in common: they understood themselves to be heirs of previous cultures which they regard as in some sense as "classic" and worthy of imitation; they take the issue of the relation of society to the divine as a central focus; they are hierarchically organized at every level of society; and they are "imperial" in the sense that they understand their society's values and structures to have universal value and therefore a universal political form, in theory if not in practice.  We will study the literature and arts of the era as an "archeological" endeavor, digging deep to uncover what the texts, art, and architecture reveal about their social contexts and the author's/artist's views about God, world, human nature, knowledge, purpose, and power.

Structure:

This colloquium will consist of discussions led by the professors (for the most part) on the topics listed below. The readings and other assignments noted for each topic are to be done before class, as they are the basis for class discussions. Since this syllabus will be under constant revision, please check the electronic version regularly for updated assignments. Many of the assignments will require your accessing web documents through links on this syllabus.  The expository material in the syllabus is in blue;  your assignments for class preparation are in green; hyperlinks are in purple; and important dates, such as assignment deadlines and test dates, are in red.

 
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Expectations:

This is a six-credit course, which represents a time commitment of some fifteen to twenty hours per week (which includes your six hours in class). The course will have three tests during the semester and a comprehensive final examination, the dates of which are listed on this syllabus. You will be expected to attend and report on at least two academic or cultural events on campus this semester. and to hand in one-page reviews of the events. There will be an ongoing research project, which will cumulatively count for 25% of your grade.  The three tests will each be worth 10% of your final grade, and the final exam will constitute 25% of your grade.  Your class participation will count for 20% of your final grade.

Since this course is very much a cooperative enterprise, involving discussion of a wide variety of materials, you are expected to be present at all meetings of the class, on time and prepared to participate in the day's discussion.  Lateness to class and late return from the break are rudeness to the rest of the class.  As a courtesy to your classmates, you are expected to turn off your pagers, your cell phones and your Instant Messaging systems so as not to interfere with the class discussions. 

The course syllabus is a dynamic document, reflecting the development of the course over the semester; you should check it before every class. 

Required Readings:

General Resources:


 

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1/13

 

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

I.  Religious and Intellectual foundations of medieval societies

The cultures we will be studying this semester have in common the fact that they understood their intellectual and spiritual heritage to have derived from textual sources earlier than themselves, and saw as their cultural challenge the task of interpreting these texts in order to construct their own worlds.

Codex Sinaiticus, 4th cent.

Foundational texts and developing orthodoxies: Imagination, Interpretation, and Meaning. 

We will begin the course by looking at texts important in the religious imagination of Jewish and Christian communities in the medieval period. They form the basis of reflection (and literature) on God, self, community, world, our past, our present, our future, what's real and true, (metaphysics) and more.  The cultures we will be looking at developed in reflection on these texts; to understand these cultures, it is essential to understand the texts they took as their basis.

Read before class: (Bring your Bible to class)

  • WC, pp. 64-69
  • Genesis , chapters 15-17
  • Exodus, chapters 3 and 19-20
  • Deuteronomy chapter 6
  • Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 37
  • Psalms 22 and 23
  • Song of Songs, chapters 1 through 6
  • Isaiah, chapter 1

Write two sentences for each of the Bible readings, the first sentence describing visually what comes to mind: what do you see in your minds eye; the second sentence describing what you think it might mean or teach the hearer/reader.  Bring your writing to class for discussion.


Beginning of discussion of the semester research project, which will culminate in an original paper of some 10-15 pages.

1/15

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

Foundational texts and constructions of orthodoxies: Quran and hadiths

The Quran ("recitation") is the record of what the Prophet Muhammad heard in his encounters with God.  It is regarded by Muslims as the very Word of God itself, speaking to them as it was spoken to the Prophet.  The hadiths are stories told about the Prophet's experiences, and are revered as his example of how to live a life of submission (islam) to God.

Read before class:

  • WC, pp. 328-349
  • Quran selections (handout).  Read through them and choose three suras (chapters). For each of the suras you choose, describe the imagery and language, and write a sentence or two of what might be the teachings, beliefs, or practices derived from those sections.  
  • Hadith (stories of the Prophet) handout.  What do you visualize? What do you think the teaching or meaning of the stories might be for the hearer?
  • Maimonides handout (Note that the three handouts are available outside the Honors Program office in Fahy 304.)  What does Maimonides say to the reader has to do to know the meaning of the text?

Join a research group by today.


14th century Quran
 

1/20

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Scholar by Waterfall  11th c.
Foundational texts and constructions of orthodoxies: Confucius and Lao Tse

Composed in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., the Analects and the Tao Te Ching reflect two ways of approaching the meaning of life that have continued to dominate Chinese thought, and East Asian thought more generally, ever since.  Our class discussion is aimed at identifying central aspects of these two modes of thought.  Identify three sayings, on different topics,  from each of the texts, and be prepared to discuss its meaning.

Read before class:

1/22

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

Meanings and structures that evolve: Creeds, canons, interpretation of texts

Jesus' followers have left us written records that manifest divergent understandings of his meaning and message; some of these books were incorporated into the evolving canon of what came to be known as the New Testament, and others were not.  The movement of Christian belief into the larger, Greco-Roman, world posed questions not directly addressed by the texts themselves, so that Christians needed to develop hermeneutical methods to answer these questions.  The answers so derived frequently conflicted with each other; as Christian belief became a matter of state, means for adjudicating these disputes became necessary.  We will be examining texts reflecting several stages of this development.

Read before class:

Deadline for choosing a topic for your research project.


Cross of Justin II

1/27

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Sufi sema ritual
Meanings and structures that evolve: Muslim codes of conduct

Last week we looked at interpretation of texts and development of creeds in early Christianity.  This week, we continue our study of interpretation of sacred texts in medieval Islam. By the 10th century C.E., the “Sufi” orders of Islam—confraternities of lay persons under the spiritual guidance of local shaykhs, or teachers—attempted to model the teachings and actions of Prophet Muhammad as a way to mirror the values ascribed to Muhammad.  Read the three short handouts (stapled together): The Way of Sufi Chivalry by al-Sulami (d.1021 C.E.), A Sufi Rule for Novices by Najib al-Suhrawardi (d. 1168 C.E.), and “The Muslim Jesus” (sayings about Jesus circulating in the Islamic world in the 8th and 9th centuries). Choose one saying (or paragraph) from each of the three readings and comment on the values or teachings in those texts. In a sentence, what strikes you as interesting, odd, or significant about these texts?

Chapter V of the Muqaddimah gives valuable background on the actual economic and professional structures of medieval Islam which underlie the guilds.

Read before class:

  • The Way of Sufi Chivalry (handout)
  • Rule for Novices (handout)
  • Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, chapter 5
  • The Muslim Jesus (handout)
1/28 Film :  Byzantium: the Lost Empire    8:30 p.m.  FH 131

1/29

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

Meanings and structures that evolve: Monasticism and Monastic Spirituality

In the fourth century, Christians began the practice of withdrawing from "the world" and separating themselves from society in organized monastic communities.  Monasticism, long practiced in India, became a significant form of Christian religious practice as well.

What is the purpose of the monastic life, according to Benedict?  to Basil?
Why live in community?  What advantages flow from the communal life?

Can you draw any parallels between the Sufi Rule for Novices and St. Basil's letter to Gregory regarding the code of conduct for monastics?  What exactly do you find similar and what is different?

Read before class:


St. Catherine's Monastery
 Mt. Sinai

2/3

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

II.    Tribal cultures moving into hierarchical structures

One of the constituent elements of medieval society is the migration of tribes into settled areas, and their subsequent adaptation to the cultural norms of the areas and societies they conquered.

The Kaaba, Mecca

Tribal cultures

Ibn Khaldun gives us a way of understanding how invading tribes overcame their predecessor civilizations, and then assimilated to features of those civilizations.  We will be looking at several instances of this assimilation, which gave us the cultures we will be looking at.

Read before class:


First exam on the preceding material at the beginning of the class.  There will be two short essays and four identifications on the exam.
2/4 Film: The Name of the Rose      8:30 p.m.  FH 131

2/5

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

The survival of pre-canonical elements:  echoes of earlier traditions

Medieval cultures emerged out of the gradual fusion of older cultures with new populations, with the features of the older transformed by the newer.  Today's texts show us several instances of this transformation.

In the letter of Pope Nicholas, focus on the following chapters: I, II, III, XIII, XVII, XVIII, XVIIII. Do you see anything "tribal" in the Bulgarian way of life? Can you find any similarities between Khan Boris and Marco Polo’s Khans? What does this text tell you about the process of conversion?

Read two of the following:


The Ruthwell Cross

2/10

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Zen Garden, Ryoanji, Kyoto

Sacred and profane Buddhism in eastern Asia: T'ang dynasty China. Korea and Japan

Originating in India, Buddhist thought was carried north into China and Tibet, and thence to Mongolia, Japan and Korea.  Each new culture produced its own distinctive version of the Buddha's teaching.  What kinds of differences can you see in these various version of Buddhist living?  How do you account for them?

Read before class:


Deadline for submitting a detailed bibliography for your research project.

2/12

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

III. Medieval Political Models

In the period we are studying, four rather different models of political organization emerged, models which persist to this day.  We are heirs to the Western European model, which, among other things, posits a separation between religious and political interests.  The Byzantine model assumes no such separation; nor does the Muslim model articulated by Ibn Khaldun.  These models persist to this day, in Russia, on the one hand, and the Muslim world, on the other.  The Chinese model of political organization, visible in the texts we will study, is also still operational in the China of our time.

The Son of Heaven

For millennia, China has been a very large empire, ruled by force but needing wide-scale obedience and consent.  Chinese literature includes a very long tradition of reflection on how to accomplish these objectives effectively and ethically.

What do these texts tell you about what power meant?  How do they show his power?  What is the emperor responsible for?  What is he in charge of?  How does he do it well?

Read before class:

Hand in a draft of the thesis statement for your research project.


Qin Shi Huang's chariot
from his tomb at Xi'an

2/17

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Justinian and his court
San Vitale, Ravenna

Symphonia

From Constantine forward, the emperors of the eastern Roman empire claimed God-given power over all aspects of Byzantine society, secular and religious.   The Christian church remained subservient to the imperial system; and political conflicts frequently took a theological form.

Read before class:


Deadline for submitting the thesis statement for your research project.

2/19

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

Empire and Papacy

In Western Europe, the Christian Church was the sole institution to survive after the withdrawal of Roman troops to Constantinople and the Eastern Empire.  As the new populations developed their own political structures, tensions developed between these new structures and those of the Church.

Read before class:

Charlemagne's Throne

Aachen Cathedral, c. 802

2/24

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Caliph's chapel (masurah)Mosque of Cordoba

Umma and caliphate

Ibn Khaldun offers an analysis of the way in which power arises and is lost; and how power is ultimately in the gift of God.  Because God is one, power itself necessarily is one, and is properly vested in the Prophet's representative, the caliph.  At the same time, he notes that caliphal authority has taken on aspects of conventional royal authority as a practical way of its exercise.  The Muqaddimah is still a fundamental text of political science in the Muslim world.

Read before class:

  • WC, pp. 378-401
  • Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, chapter 3, especially pp. 123-172.  Note the offices of the Muslim community in pp. 173-238; read the first paragraph or two of each section.  Read carefully the end of the chapter from pp. 238-261.

Deadline for submitting a preliminary outline of your research paper.

2/26

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

IV.  Feudal society

Feudal society was based on a perfectly enclosed hierarchical system mirroring, in its world view, the order of nature. Workers, soldiers and those who prayed were the three pillars of mankind: the first produced food and wealth; the second fought to protect it; and the third ensured that the relationship between man and the Divine remained peaceful. All relationships, be they commercial, military, political or religious, were based on this understanding of one’s place in the world. 

Medieval court literature and the values it enshrines

The poetry and songs we have from the noble and royal courts of Europe provide us with  clear insights into the social values these courts prized.

Read before class:

  • WC, pp. 458-487
  • Tristan and Isolde (Italy and France reader, pp. 15-19
  • The Song of Roland (Italy and France reader, pp. 20-23)
  • Decameron III.2, IV.9

At the beginning of class, we will have the second exam, on the preceding material


Tristan and Iseult
French ivory, 13th century
3/3

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


Madrasa bun Inania, Meknes

The institutionalization of knowledge

World views; cosmology; organization of the sciences as part of a whole

Read before class:

  • Dionysius the Areopagite, The Divine Names, Chapter 4, sections 1-3

  • Bonaventure's Journey of the Mind into God, Chapters 1 and 2

  • Article, "The Basis of the Teaching System and the Educational Institutions" (handout)

  • Ibn Sina On the Nature of God  (handout)

  • Nahmanides on the Soul (handout)

  • Rumi poems, especially 1, 3, 7 (handout)

  • Article, "Physics and Astronomy" (handout)

3/5

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

The Sphere of the Personal

 

The grand cosmological visions of medieval cultures also left a great deal of room for the articulation of the perennial human impulses to love, to combat, to laugh, to enjoy the pleasures of life.  We are fortunate to have a number of these stories as well.

Read before class:

  • Thousand and One Nights (on e-reserve in the Library):  The Tale of the Porter (pp. 243-257); The Historic Fart (p. 163-164)

  • Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Miller’s Tale

  • Al-Jahiz, The Life and Works of Al-Jahiz, (handout)

  • Decameron, V.10, III.10

  • Al-Ghazali on birth control (handout)


Turkish carpet illustrating a scene from the Thousand and One Nights

3/10

Spring Break - No class

3/12

Spring Break - No class

3/17

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku


The University of Salamanca

The Institutionalization of Knowledge: Universities, Sciences, Philosophy, Theology

The European universities, which developed out of the monastic and cathedral schools , on the one hand, and out of the Muslim madrasas, on the other, represented a systematic attempt to organize, develop and transmit knowledge of all sorts.

The European universities appropriated Greek knowledge as transmitted through the Arab translators, and elevated it to the status of a dominant intellectual method.  Aristotelian dialectic provided a method of arriving at demonstrable certainty not available through introspection alone; the intellectual confidence arising out of this discovery prompted great strides in religion, philosophy, science and the arts. 

Read before class:


Deadline for submitting a detailed outline or first draft of your research paper.

3/19

Bénéteau/Webb

Ahr/Murzaku

The methods and the results of knowledge:  Universities, Sciences, Philosophy, Theology; connections between traditions;  the learned way of knowing

In your preparation for this class, pay particular attention to Anselm's argument as he attempts to give a rational demonstration of his belief that God exists, and then to the nature of Thomas' handling of the same question.  Note also how Thomas is dependent on Ibn Sina on this matter, and how they are both dependent on Aristotle.

Note the way in which Anselm's style is very close to that of Augustine in the Confessions, while Thomas takes a stylistically very different approach to the same question.  Note also that Thomas is disagreeing with Anselm's conclusions, and coming up with a different kind of answer to the question.  

What kind of conclusions can you draw about the change in the way people thought, from looking at these two different kinds of argument?  Do you agree with Anselm?  with Thomas?  Why?  How is Thomas Aquinas' argument influenced by Ibn Sina's?

In reading Thomas, note how his dialectic arrives at an answer in a very different way from Anselm's argument.  Note also that the dialectic argument requires him to state first, in the "Objections",  the position he ultimately refutes; Thomas own point of view is stated briefly in the "On the contrary", and articulated fully in the "I answer that".  The argument concludes by the "Replies to the objections," in which he refutes the positions opposed to his.  The dialectical method enables Thomas to arrive at certainty in his conclusions. 


Francesco Traini
The Triumph of St
Thomas Aquinas 1340

Read before class:

  • Anselm's proof of the existence of God 
  • Aristotle's argument for the first principle from Book II of the Metaphysics
  • Ibn Sina, On the Nature of God (handout)
  • Thomas Aquinas on the existence of God, from the Summa Theologiae. Focus on the "five ways" Thomas develops in question 2, article 3.  Be prepared to articulate one of those five demonstrations.
  • 3/24

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku


    St. Francis by Giotto
    Mystics:  Francis, Bonaventure, Rumi, Nachmanides, Meister Eckhart, John of the Cross, Hesychasm

    The Middle Ages saw considerable development of the "mystical" sensibility of uncovering the "inner" self to reveal the divine hidden within.  This phenomenon develops in part with a growing emphasis on the humanity of Jesus in Christianity as the period developed.

    Come to class prepared to discuss the levels of meaning in several of the assigned texts.  Are there common themes in these texts?  What are they?  Do you see interesting differences among the texts?

    Read before class:

    • The Song of Songs from the Bible
    • The Prophet's Miraj (handout)
    • The Little Flowers of St. Francis, Part I, chapters 2, 3, 9, 13, 28
    • Bonaventure, The Soul's Journey to God, chapter 1 (handout)
    • Poems of Rumi (handout)
    • Poem of Nachmanides (handout)
    • Kabbalah text on the Song of Songs (handout)
    • Meister Eckhart, Sermon Fifteen (handout)
    • John of the Cross, Dark Night (handout)
    • Hesychast texts
    3/25 Film:  Mongol     8:30 p.m.  FH 122

    3/26

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Medieval sensibility: visual arts, architecture, music

    The European Middle Ages also saw astonishing development in the arts, architecture and music.    The master masons and architects developed new technologies that enabled the construction of buildings which astonish us even today.  The impulse to do so did not, however, pass unchallenged, as the points of view of Suger and Bernard demonstrate.

    Contemporary with these universities, and sharing many common intellectual foundations, the guilds of architects and stonemasons systematized an astonishing flowering of art, architecture and technology.  Their work remains as a powerful monument to the daring of medieval ambition.

    Read before class:


    Sainte Chapelle
    Paris

    3/27


    The Cuxa Cloister
    The Cloisters
    Cloisters visit

    The bus will leave from the Art Center (the red barn) at the Main Gate of campus at 11 a.m.  

    In preparation for this trip, review the materials for the March 26 class, as well as other aesthetic information you have gathered through the course of the semester.  Think particularly about the philosophical implications of the shift from the romanesque to the gothic, and be prepared to look for the growing emphasis on the individual and particular that is characteristic of the gothic. 

    You are required to hand in a one-page description and analysis of one object from the Cloisters collection; this assignment is due on April 2.

    3/31

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Literature and the arts: Dante

    How does Dante's Inferno capture essential characteristics of the high medieval world view of the cosmos, of the use and meaning of religious symbolism, and the concept of social and religious justice?  Notice how the punishment not only fits the crime, but sheds light on the communal and ethical harm done by the sin.

    Read before class:

    • Inferno  1, 5, 24-25, 26, 32 (from v. 124)- 33

    • Choose two among Inferno 4, 10, 13, 15, 34


    Dante, Duomo
    Florence

    4/2

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    V. Mercantile society and values

    The rise of a new class of citizens, the merchants, largely urban, travelling between the markets of Europe, both fit into the feudal world and its values which the new merchant class was trying to imitate, and also began to undermine it.


    The Rialto, Venice
    Old ideals still held true to some extent, but got trumped in a series of comic misadventures in Boccaccio’s Decameron, sometimes jokingly referred to as the Human Comedy.

    Read before class:

    • The Novellino:  the novella of Count Bonifacio (Italy and France reader, p. 14)

    • Decameron I.1, II.5, III.2, V.9, VI.2, VIII.3, X.9, X.10  Choose one of the stories, and write a page about its significance, the questions it addresses, and its approach to these questions.

    • A Thousand and One Nights (on e-reserve): Tale of the Hunchback, (pp. 24-43) and The Dream (pp. 328-329)

    4/7

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Mercantile values continued

    Medieval society understood itself as composed of persons of various necessary ranks, or degrees.   Virtually all social transactions in this society were based on this social model.   Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales gives a clear and colorful account of this society.  Chaucer’s cast of characters shows the wide diversity of social roles in fourteenth century English society, a diversity which is matched almost everywhere in western Europe at that time.  

    The emergence of the merchant class posed a challenge to the feudal social order; the fluidity of this new class had no place in the fixed order of nobles, churchmen and serfs.  The literature of the 14th century reflects this reworking of the social order.

    Preparation for class:

    • Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:  Prologue (pick one of the characters and be prepared to discuss him or her; hand in a page of comments on that character.),  The Wyf of Bath’s Prologue

    • Boccaccio, The Decameron, II.7, IV.9, X.10

    For more background, see the Chaucer website. 

    At the beginning of class, we will have the third exam, on the preceding material.


    Geoffrey Chaucer

    4/9

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Holy Thursday

    4/14

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku


    The Siege of Antioch

    The crusades

    The events known as the Crusades were the military expression of mutual suspicion and incomprehension among Christians, Jews and Muslims in early medieval Europe.  In your reading, note the values praised by each writer, and those of the other side that are disparaged.  What are the alleged reasons for the actions portrayed; and to what extent do those alleged reasons appear to be the real ones? 

    Choose one of the readings, and hand in a one-page analysis, discussing how that text reflects the author's own beliefs and attitudes, how those beliefs color his portrayal of the other's, and how they justify his own attitude.

    Read before class:

    4/16

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Civic Humanism

    Humanism began as a critique of scholasticism and its perceived inability to understand the Self. Beginning in the mid-fourteenth century with the Italian scholar Francesco Petrarca, a new movement arose looking to the past for answers as to how to build a person and a society with new values. This movement, later known as Humanism, peaked in the century after Constantinople fell and thousands of educated Greek-speakers brought their learning and their manuscripts to Italy.



    Read before class:

    • WC, pp. 468-471; 478-482
    • Petrarch, Pico della Mirandola, Alberti (Italy and France reader, pp. 43-58)

    Petrarch by Andrea di Bargilla

    Deadline for submitting the final version of your research paper.

    4/21

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku



    Raphael, The School of Athens

    The New Mediterranean world: the development of international trade

    Renaissance art and architecture

    Part of the spectacular heritage of this era is the heritage of painting, sculpture and architecture which were part of this new world view.  The discovery of one-point perspective, the rediscovery of Greek and Roman sculpture and architecture as sources of inspiration, and the growing wealth of the patronage class produced a new way of doing and viewing art.

    View the slides on Renaissance art and architecture posted on Blackboard in Course Documents, choose one of the slides, and write a page of comment describing the building or painting, and relating that slide to themes treated in the class on humanism.

    Bring a list of topics and issues for possible inclusion in the final examination.

    Read before class:


    In the last part of the class, we will hear from several of our graduating seniors reporting on their Honors theses.

    4/23

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku

    Machiavelli, The Prince

    Machiavelli's The Prince is one of the permanent classics in political theory.  How does Machiavelli understand the nature of power?  How is it gained; how lost?  To what extent is his understanding of power consonant with Ibn Khaldun's? 

    Bring your copy of The Prince to class for discussion.

    Read before class:

    • Letter to Vettori of December 10, 1513  pp. 134-140 (available online if your edition of the book does not contain it)

    • The Prince, chapters 1, 3, 7-8, 15, 17-18, 24-26; Index


    Niccolo Machiavelli
    Palazzo della Signoria, Florence

    4/28

    Bénéteau/Webb

    Ahr/Murzaku


    Gate of the mosque and cathedral of Seville
    Summary

    In this class, we will go over the questions for the final examination, and discuss possible ways to craft theses in response to the questions.  We will also, as time permits, continue discussion of Machiavelli and other texts.

    5/1

    10:45 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.

     

    Final Exam

    The final exam will be in our usual classrooms.  You must write coherent and well-referenced essays on two of the following questions, choosing one from each part.

    Part I:

    A.  Choose and compare two texts (or sets of texts) related to political models.  Explain the world view underpinning each, and show how that world view manifests itself in the institutions of actual power.

     B.  Justice, honor and the community are three central values in medieval cultures.  Contrast two texts’ (or set of texts’) treatment of one of these values.

    Part II:

     C.  How does one become the perfected human being?  Discuss two texts’ answer to this question.  What is their understanding of human perfection, and what is their prescription for attaining it?

     D.  Choose two art objects we have studied (painting, sculpture, building); identify and describe them, and discuss how they reflect the philosophical and literary currents of their time.  Please bring a copy of the item you are discussing to the examination, and attach it to your completed exam.


    Hell, from The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch

     

    Image at top of page:  God as Architect of the cosmos, 13th century French manuscript

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