Session | Session Focus | Reading Assignment | Other Assignment | Meeting Place/Exam Dates |
WEEK 1 Monday 21 September | 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”? 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 1 Wednesday 23 September | Critical Thinking: the “Process”: Thinking logically, analyzing rationally, and synthesizing critically. Hermeneutics: Methodologies for studying objects of inquiry: philology, epistemology, metaphysics, history, and culture. | Syllabus and Previous Lecture Material | IN AULA | |
WEEK 2 Monday 28 September | 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 2 Wednesday 30 September | 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 Monday 05 October | 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 3 Wednesday 07 October | 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 3 Saturday 10 October | 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: in front of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square on Saturday, 10 October 2020 at 08:00 AM SHARP! End Time at 05:00 PM. (plus 1 hour round-trip travel time) | Previous Lecture Material and Assigned Readings | IN SITU - overtime compensates for "Make-Up Day" on Friday, 02 October and Friday, 06 November. | Saturday, 10 October 2020 at 08:00 AM SHARP! Meeting Point: in front of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square. No backpacks, rucksacks, bookbags, or long umbrellas. SACRED SITE DRESS CODE. |
WEEK 4 Monday 12 October | 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 Wednesday 14 October | 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 Monday 19 October | 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 5 Wednesday 21 October | 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 Monday 26 October | 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 6 Wednesday 28 October | 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 - Bokenkotter, “Chapters 14-16” | IN AULA | |
WEEK 7 Monday 02 November | 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). The course formally will not meet. | Previous Lecture Notes and assigned Readings | DOMICILIO
| Wednesday, 04 November 2020 - MID-TERM EXAM DUE! Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 10 October 2020. |
WEEK 7 Wednesday 04 November | Role of the Papacy: Pope Gregory VII vs. H.R.E. Henry IV and the “Dictatus Papae”; the “Magna Charta”. | Duffy, “Chapter 2” • Norwich, “Chapters 9-13” | IN AULA - Wednesday, 04 November 2020 - MID-TERM EXAM DUE! | Wednesday, 04 November 2020 - MID-TERM EXAM DUE! |
WEEK 8 Monday 09 November | 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”, and the “Western Schism”. | Previous Lecture Notes • Duffy, “Chapter 3” | IN AULA | Graded MID-TERM EXAM returned to students. |
WEEK 8 Wednesday 11 November | 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 9 Monday 16 November | 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 9 Wednesday 18 November | 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 10 Monday 23 November | 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 10 Wednesday 25 November | 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 11 Monday 30 November | 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 11 Wednesday 02 December | The Modern Papacy (18th – 19th century CE) - The Modern & Contemporary Papacy (20th – 21st century CE). "Research Project Presentation". | Previous Lecture Notes • Bokenkotter, “Chapters 22-37” • Duffy, “Chapter 5-6” • Norwich, “Chapters 22-28” | IN AULA - Research Project Presentation DUE! | Wednesday, 02 December 2020 - RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTATION DUE! |
WEEK 12 Monday 07 December | Class will not meet formally in order to compensate for site visit of the Vatican on Saturday, 10 October 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 Saturday, 10 October 2020. |
WEEK 12 Wednesday, 09 December | Course Review for "Final Exam". Course Evaluations. | All readings previously and lecture material indicated on the syllabus. | IN AULA | |
WEEK 13 Friday, 11 through Monday, 14 December 2020 | Whether you study hard or hardly study, I sincerely wish you all the best! | | IN AULA | TBD |