Session | Session Focus | Reading Assignment | Other Assignment | Meeting Place/Exam Dates |
WEEK 1 Monday 20 January | Introduction One: the “Course”: Who, When, and Where?
Overview: Course prospectus, syllabus, schedule and expectations; Who are “We”? Why study “Religion”, the “Popes”, “History”, or the “Catholic Church”? | Syllabus | IN AULA | |
WEEK 1 Wednesday 22 January | Introduction Two: the “Journey”: How, What, and Why?
Semiotics and Paradigms: How do human societies form? How do basic needs and wants take on religious symbolism, significance, and systems?
| Syllabus | IN AULA | |
WEEK 2 Monday 27 January | Critical Thinking: the “Process”: Thinking logically, analyzing rationally, and synthesizing critically.
Hermeneutics: Methodologies for studying objects of inquiry: philology, epistemology, metaphysics, history, and culture.
| Previous Lecture Notes | IN AULA | |
WEEK 2 Wednesday 29 January | Pontifex Maximus: “Building Bridges”: The world’s oldest, continuously surviving, and most important title and office (8th century BCE – 1st century CE). Ancient “Eternal” Rome: from the Roman monarchy, through the Republican SPQR, to the Imperial Period; Roman Law and Religion.
| • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Prefaces” and “Introduction”
• Duffy, “Prefaces”
• Norwich, “Illustrations”, “Maps”, and “Introduction” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 3 Monday 03 February | Peter: “the Rock”: The world’s second oldest, continuously surviving, and most important title and office (2nd century BCE – 1st century CE). Ancient “Roman” Jerusalem: Mosaic Law; the “Sanhedrin”; "Church", "Peter", and “Christ” in the Christian New Testament | • Previous Lecture Notes
• 1 Cor 15, 1-14; Mt 16, 13-20; Mt 27, 57-61; Jn 20,1-10; Jn 20,30-31; Jn 21,24-25
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 1-3” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 3 Wednesday 05 February | The Fifth Gospel: “Incarnation & Resurrection”: Religion’s Astrological and Astronomical origins, and humanity’s most examined human artifact. Othonia, Sudarion, and Sindon: did Jesus “of Nazareth” or Jesus “Christ” exist? | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Mt 27, 57-61; Jn 20,1-10
• Duffy, “Chapter 1.1”
• Norwich, “Chapter 1” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 4 Monday 10 February | Third Century Crisis One: “Tertullian’s Turn and Cyprian’s Solution”: A new monotheism and the emergence of a state within a state (2nd – 3rd century CE). Ancient Roman “Architects”: Stoic "unitas", Tertullian’s "trinitas", and Cyprian’s "ecclesiae catholicae". | Previous Lecture Notes | IN AULA | |
WEEK 4 Wednesday 12 February | Third Century Crisis Two: “Persecutions or Supplications”: Roman religious revival and its consequences for Christians…and the Empire (3rd century CE). Ancient Roman “Culture Clash”: The “lapsi”, “confessors and martyrs”, “ex comunio”, the “baptismal controversy”, and Pope Stephen I. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 1.2” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 4 Saturday 15 February | Vatiland: “Top to Bottom”: MANDATORY Site Visit of the Rooms of Raffaello, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, its Dome, and the “Scavi” beneath (Simon Peter’s tomb). Mandatory Site Visit of the Vatican: Meeting Point, Date, and Time: Vatican Museums Entrance in Viale Vaticano on Saturday, 15 February 2020 at 07:30 AM SHARP! End Time at 01:30 PM. (plus 1 hour round-trip travel time) | Previous lecture material and readings indicated on course syllabus. | IN SITU - Meeting Point, Date, and Time: Vatican Museums Entrance in Viale Vaticano on Saturday, 15 February 2020 at 07:30 AM SHARP! End Time at 01:30 PM. Students that fail to attend will be marked for four absences. (plus 1 hour round-trip travel time) | Saturday, 15 February 2020 at 07:30 AM SHARP! Entrance to the Vatican Museums in Viale Vaticano (NOT St. Peter's Square!). No backpacks, rucksacks, bookbags, or long umbrellas. SACRED SITE DRESS CODE.(plus 1 hour round-trip travel time) |
WEEK 5 Monday 17 February | Constantine’s Conundrum: “If you can’t beat them, join them”: Roman policy shift regarding religion and the dawn of a different empire (4th century CE). Ancient Roman “New Deal”: Diocletian, Roman “Toleration”, a “Nova Roma”, the Council of Nicaea I, the “Collegium Pontificium”, and Julian “the Apostate”. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 4-6”
• Duffy, “Chapter 1.3” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 5 Wednesday 19 February | Theodosian Shift: “Church-State Identification”: Will the real “Christ”, please, stand up? (4th – 5th century CE). Ancient Roman “Identity Politics”: The Councils of Constantinople I, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; Pope Leo’s “Tome”, the “Fall” of Rome,
and a new P.M.. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 1.4” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 6 Monday 24 February | Rome’s “Fall” and “Metamorphosis”: “Who’s in Charge Here?!”. The East’s complacency and the West’s precarity (6th – 8th century CE). Roman & Papal “Dark” Ages: The Councils of Constantinople II, Constantinople III, and Nicaea II; the advent of Islam; the end of Arianism and Iconoclasm. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 7-9”
• Norwich, “Chapters 2-3” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 6 Wednesday 26 February | Rise of the Papacy: “Charles in Charge…or so he thought”. The West’s consolidation and the East’s dissolution (8th – 11th century CE). And Then They Were “Two”:
The “Barbarians” vs. the Merovingians and Carolingians; the birth of the “Holy Roman Empire” and the “Papal States”; monasticism and the “schola”; the “Great Schism” of 1054. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 10-13”
• Duffy, “Chapter 2”
• Norwich, “Chapters 4-8” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 7 Monday 02 March | MID-TERM EXAM: to be completed “on your own time and at home”. Four weeks in addition to exam time is afforded to the completion of this assignment (25% or course grade). | MID-TERM EXAM | IN AULA | Monday, 02 March 2020 - MID-TERM EXAM DUE! |
WEEK 7 Wednesday 04 March | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 15 February 2020. | All readings previously indicated on the syllabus. | DOMICILIO | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Satuday, 15 February 2020. |
WEEK 8 Monday 16 March | Papal Reboot of Civilization: “Deus lo vult”. Rome’s Reboot of Antiquity, for better and for worse (11th – 13th century CE). Roman “Middle” Ages: The “universitas”; the “Crusdaes”; the “indulgentia” and the “buying and selling of indulgences” | Previous Lecture Notes | IN AULA
| Graded MID-TERM EXAM returned to students. |
WEEK 8 Wednesday 18 March | Role of the Papacy: Pope Gregory VII vs. H.R.E. Henry IV and the “Dictatus Papae”; the “Magna Charta”. | • Bokenkotter, “Chapters 14-16”
• Duffy, “Chapter 2”
• Norwich, “Chapters 9-13” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 9 Monday 23 March | Retreat of the Papacy: “Living Saints”. The Papacy’s Claim of Rome. (13th – 14th century CE). Papal “Middle” Ages: Lateran Council IV and the Mendicant Orders; Second Council of Lyons; the “Unam Sanctam” and the first “Jubilee”; the “Avignon Papacy”, the “Western Schism”, and Catherine of Siena. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 3” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 9 Wednesday 25 March | Return of the King: “Living Sinners”. Rome’s Claim of the Papacy (15th century CE). Proto-Rinascimento & Proto-Reformation: The “Black Death”; Pope Martin V and the Council of Florence; Pope Eugene IV; John Wycliffe and Jan Hus; Slavery; Pope Nicholas V and the “Fall” of Constantinople. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 17-18”
• Norwich, “Chapters 14-16” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 10 Monday 30 March | Papal Power: “Forged in Fire and Gold”. Papal Rebirth of Rome (15th – 16th century CE). Papal Rinascimento I: Pope Sixtus IV and his Chapel; Savonarola, Pope Alexander VI, and a New World; Pope Julius II, a reluctant sculptor, and an ambitious architect. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 4.1” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 10 Wednesday 01 April | Papal Prowess: “The Ceiling that Daunts”: “Catholic” catechesis "a fresco" (16th century CE). Papal Rinascimento II: Michelangelo and his ceiling that almost wasn’t. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Norwich, “Chapters 17-19” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 11 Monday 06 April | Papal Presumption: “The Room that Taunts”: Papal propaganda "a fresco" (16th century CE). Papal Rinascimento III: Raffaello and his room that almost killed him. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 4.2” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 11 Wednesday 08 April | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 15 February 2020. | All readings previously indicated on the syllabus. | DOMICILIO | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Satuday, 15 February 2020. |
WEEK 12 Monday 13 April | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Satuday, 15 February 2020, which is this course's "MAKE-UP" day for this class lecture session, which is a holiday. JCU is closed. | Previous lecture material and readings indicated on course syllabus. | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Satuday, 15 February 2020, which is this course's "MAKE-UP" day for this class lecture session, which is a holiday. JCU is closed today. | National Holiday - JCU is closed |
WEEK 12 Wednesday 15 April | Papal Paralysis: “The Wall that Haunts”: Final Judgment "a fresco" (16th century CE). Protestant Reformation: Luther, Calvin, and Henry VIII; the Sack of Rome; Michelangelo and his wall that almost condemned him. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Bokenkotter, “Chapters 19-21”
• Norwich, “Chapter 20” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 13 Monday 20 April | Papal Posturing: “The Writing on the Wall”: From Reformation to Revolution (16th – 17th century CE). CounterReformation and Revolution: Pope Pius V, the Jesuits, and the Council of Trent; Copernicus and Galileo; Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII; Bernini. | • Previous Lecture Notes
• Duffy, “Chapter 4.3-4.4”
• Norwich, “Chapter 21” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 13 Wednesday 22 April | "Research Project Presentation" preparation day. Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 15 February 2020. | Research readings pertinent to individual "Research Project Presenation". | DOMICILIO | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 15 February 2020. |
WEEK 14 Monday 27 April | The Modern Papacy (18th – 19th century CE). "Research Project Presentation".
| • Bokenkotter, “Chapter 28-37” • Duffy, “Chapter 6” • Norwich, “Chapters 26-28” | IN AULA - Research Project Presentation DUE! | Monday, 27 April & Wednesday, 29 April 2020 |
WEEK 14 Wednesday 29 April | The Modern & Contemporary Papacy (20th – 21st century CE). "Research Project Presentation".
| • Bokenkotter, “Chapters 22-27” • Duffy, “Chapter 5” • Norwich, “Chapters 22-25” | IN AULA - Research Project Presentation DUE! Course review and evaluations. | Monday, 27 April & Wednesday, 29 April 2020 |
WEEK 15 Monday, 04 through Friday, 08 May 2020 | Whether you study hard or hardly study, I sincerely wish you all the best! | FINAL EXAM - All previous course text readings and lecture material. | IN AULA | TBD |