1.
Participation (10%)
Goal:
To create a vibrant intellectual community centered on the
shared project of analyzing ancient texts and ideas about
Christian diversity.
We
are learning about these topics together and participation is a
key way to help each other learn. Attendance is required, but
obviously life will intervene and you will find you need to miss
class here or there: just keep me posted. Readings assigned for
that day should be done before coming to class and you
should be ready to share any thoughts, questions, ideas, or
connections with larger themes that emerged from your reading.
At
the beginning of every class we will each share one thing from
the readings that caught our interest: an image, a line, a
quotation, or even something that just made no sense.
If
you have difficulty or anxiety about speaking up in class, come
speak to me and we can work on strategies together. You can also
use the Discussion Board to post your ideas or thoughts about
the day’s readings if you need to miss class.
2.
Discussion board post and response (10% total)
Goal:
To lay groundwork in advance for more focused class discussion
of major themes that are central to the study of early
Christianity.
Once during each class unit you will create a post in response to a prompt asking you to step back and consider a larger theme relevant to the historical study of religion and attempt to make one connection to the next day’s readings (these prompts can be found on the course website and the Blackboard Discussion page, so you can have them in mind when you go do the readings). You should also reply to at least one other person’s post; all posts and responses are due by 9pm the evening before class (on 9/11, 10/16, 11/4, and 12/2) so please don’t wait until the last minute to post so others have a chance to respond to you.
Post
1: Due by 9pm on Wednesday, September 11
VIOLENCE: What is an example of violence in popular
culture that you think is educational? What does it teach, and
to whom?
CANON: Consider any of the following examples of
modern popular culture canons, or choose your own, and explain
how any one item in that canon becomes "officially" part of
the canon and how something becomes noncanonical: Marvel
Cinematic Universe; Star Wars; Middle Earth Cinematic
Universe; Sherlock Holmes; Wizard of Oz
SPACE: Think of a space you know well (your home
town, BU campus, etc.): are there places you feel less
comfortable entering into (for whatever reason)? What would
make you feel comfortable in those spaces (if anything)? How
did these spaces become inhospitable to you?
GENDER: When does a person's gender (your own, a
friend's, a stranger's) become relevant and when is it
irrelevant? Can you think of situations in which relevant
gender could become irrelevant, or vice versa?
3.
Response papers (15x4 = 60%)
Goal:
To engage in close reading and analysis of ancient Christian
texts in a variety of rhetorical formats, including creative and
imaginative writing.
After each class unit you will complete a directed written response engaging with texts and topics we have covered in that unit: a rhetorical analysis; a creative response; an argument analysis; and a narrative analysis. Each response is due on the Friday following the end of the unit (9/27, 10/25, 11/15, 12/13) by 5pm to Blackboard. You may want to keep the prompts below in mind as you do the readings for each unit.
a.
Rhetorical analysis (due by 5pm on Friday,
September 27)
Goal: To analyze the rhetorical effects of a
piece of early Christian writing on its original audience and
consider whether those effects would be the same on a modern
audience. You should pay particular attention to the use of
language and tone, and try to describe how the author(s) of the
text is creating connections with an audience.
Format:
Your rhetorical analysis should be 500-750 words, double-spaced.
Your analysis should contain specific examples from the text
that support your reading, including direct quotations (which
can be cited by section number or page number of the reading).
Choose
one of the following texts and prompts:
I. The Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne has
many graphic scenes of torture. What was it like for you, as a
student in the twenty-first century, to read these graphic
descriptions? Do you think ancient audiences would have reacted
the same way? If not, how might they have responded? Which one
or two descriptions did you find most effective?
II. In his Plea for Christians, Athenagoras compares
the Christian view of the divine with the non-Christian (pagan)
view of the divine. What are those differences and which do you
think Athenagoras thought were the most persuasive? What would
his audience have to believe about the divine to be persuaded?
III. In the opening of his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
Justin Martyr tells Trypho how he came to be convinced of the
truth of Christianity. What arguments persuaded him? What does
Justin assume about his audience (Trypho or his reader) that
they might also find these arguments persuasive? Would these
arguments work on, say, a twenty-first century US college
student?
b.
Creative response (due by 5pm on Friday,
October 25)
Goal: To imagine yourself in the place of a
Christian in the first centuries CE to consider the social,
religious, and cultural benefits and obstacles to becoming a
Christian. Why would someone do it and what would that life be
like?
Format: You can choose any format (as long as you can upload it to Blackboard) to address the prompts below: a letter, a dialogue, a short story, annotated illustrations, memes, and so forth. (Feel free to check in with me if you have trouble deciding.) You don't have to quote from our readings but it would be helpful if you could indicate (by endnotes or a note at the end of your response) what sources inspired your creative response. There is no specific word length for this assignment.
Choose
one of the following scenarios:
I. The friendly bishop. You are the bishop of a major
Christian city around the year 200 and a non-Christian (pagan)
has come to you curious about Christianity. What do you tell
them about what it means to be Christian: what they do, what
they are, what they don't do, what they aren't? What positive
aspects of the movement do you focus on and what negatives do
you avoid?
II. Your gnostic friend. You are a Christian who
follows "gnostic" teachings, but your other Christian friends
are skeptical. How do you explain to them how you think
salvation works?
III. But I'm still your daughter. You are a young
Christian woman who has decided to embrace a life of chastity.
How do you explain this decision to your (choose one):
fiancé/husband/father/children?
c.
Argument analysis (due by 5pm on Friday,
November 15)
Goal: To closely analyze the style and
effectiveness of arguments deployed in early Christian debates
in the fourth and fifth centuries, including: language, tone,
evidence, authority.
Format:
Your analysis should be 750-1000 and focus on the specific text
and question in the prompt. Choose only a few points and support
them when possible with direct citations (using chapter numbers
or page numbers).
I.
In his Letter to Alexander of Constantinople, what
kinds of arguments does Alexander of Alexandria make against
Arius and his followers? How might a clever opponent respond to
those arguments?
II. In his Letter to Cyril of Alexandria, what kinds
of arguments does Nestorius of Constantinople make against Cyril
of Alexandria? How might a clever opponent respond to those
arguments?
III. In his First Speech Against Judaizers, what kinds
of arguments does John Chrysostom make against Christians who go
into synagogues? How might a clever opponent respond to those
arguments?
d.
Narrative analysis (due by 5pm on Friday
December 13)
Goal: To analyze the elements (style,
characters, plot) of a Christian narrative from the fourth or
fifth centuries and assess its effectiveness for ancient
audiences and modern audiences.
Format: Your analysis should be 750-1000 words focused on the specific text and prompt; you should focus on specific scenes to make your point and you do not need to summarize the whole narrative (assume you are writing for an audience that has already read it, like your classmates)
I.
In her "Travel Journal," what kind of people does the pilgrim
Egeria encounter and how do they fit (or not fit) into her ideal
landscape of the holy land? Are these the same kinds of people a
modern pilgrim might want to meet?
II. In the Life of Pelagia, which character do you
think an ancient Christian reader would identify with: Jacob,
Pelagios, or Nonos (or someone else)?? What aspects of their own
life might affect this identification? Would a modern reader be
affected by the same considerations?
III. In his Confessions, Augustine speaks in the first
person to tell us about his conversion. Were you convinced that
you were seeing the "authentic" Augustine or not? What details
felt "real" and what felt less authentic? What aspects of your
own biography would you emphasize or deemphasize when describing
a life decision (choice of college, major, where to live, future
career, etc.)?
4.
Final exercise (20%)
Goal:
To synthesize themes and concepts from across all four course
units with a focus on broader ideas in the study of history and
religion.
You
have
four options for a synthetic final exercise:
a.
Take-home final exam
This will be provided one week before the due date; you can use
any materials you like that we used in class, but no outside
readings (including website). On this exam you may be asked: to
analyze passages we read together in class in light of the
various themes of Christian diversity we have discussed
throughout the semester; to identify key terms or persons and
explain their significance to the study of early Christianity;
to pick a relevant passage to illuminate some theme or concept
we discussed in class.
b.
Extended written response (rhetorical, creative, argument, or
narrative)
You can choose to expand one of your written responses either to
flesh out and revise your arguments or to add more sources to
create a more complex argument (e.g., discuss Cyril's arguments
alongside Nestorius's; compare characters in the Life of
Pelagia and the Life of Antony). You may also
decide to do a rhetorical analysis, creative response, argument
analysis, or narrative analysis with a different text or set of
texts.
Your
extended written response should be 1000-2000 words and cite
directly from the sources.
c.
Scholarly book review
Choose from among the following books (available through Mugar
Memorial Library) on topics we have covered in class and write a
scholarly book review in 800-1000 words.
Candida Moss, Ancient Christian Martyrdom
Lynn Cohick, The Peri Pascha Attributed to Melito of Sardis
Michael Williams, Rethinking "Gnosticism": An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category
Julia Hillner, Helena Augusta: Mother of Empire
Ari Finkelstein, The Specter of the Jews: Emperor Julian and the Rhetoric of Ethnicity in Syrian Antioch
Georgia Frank, The Memory of the Eyes; Pilgrims to Living Saints in Christian Late Antiquity
A scholarly book review should: summarize the author's main
argument (s); describe the sources they use to make their
argument; assess the relationship between the argument and
sources (i.e., how persuasive is the argument in light of the
sources used); and suggest what audiences this work would be
appropriate for (undergraduates, advanced academics, etc.). The
goal is not to pass blanket judgment on the book (good or bad)
but to assess its argument.
d.
Research bibliography
Choose a topic we covered in class or a topic you wish
we had covered in class and produce a research bibliography on
that topic. Your bibliography should be at least 10 sources,
including:
- 3 academic books
- 3 scholarly articles or essays
- 3 important primary sources; the primary sources should appear in their own section and you should provide a brief description of each and whether it is readily available in English
If you wish to pursue options b, c, or d please make an appointment to meet with me sometime early in the semester so we can get you on the right track. If you choose option a, the final exam will be made available one week before the due date. All final exercises are due to Blackboard by 5pm on the last day of final exams (December 20). There is no other final exam for this class.