Unit information: The Religous World of Dante in 2009/10

Unit name	The Religous World of Dante
Unit code	THRS30104
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Mr. Ferzoco
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Religion and Theology
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit is designed to give students an understanding of the content and the context of Dante's *Inferno* within the framework of medieval understandings of God, morality, and the afterlife. The unit will be taught through two hours of class meetings weekly: one hour will be in lecture form, and the other will be a seminar which actively involves the entire class; student participation (and, in some cases, presentations) will also be expected. Topics covered include: the theology and religious culture of late medieval Italy; the life and works of Dante; the structure of the *Comedy* and, more importantly, the *Inferno*; medieval understandings of sins' causes, effects and punishments; and the notion of intercession.

Aims:

• To provide an understanding of the religious culture of medieval Italy

• To provide an understanding of the role of religion within medieval culture

• To provide an understanding of major theological premises and innovations of Dante Alighieri

• To develop written presentation and argumentation skills through essays, group work and seminar presentations.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:

acquired knowledge and skill to discuss significant aspects of Italian medieval spirituality;

acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the role of religion within medieval culture;

acquired knowledge and skill to discuss the major theological premises and innovations of Dante Alighieri;

acquired skills through group work, seminar presentations and through a formative essay and an assessed essay in presenting, analyzing and evaluating complex ideas and arguments in both written and oral forms.

and additionally to:

• incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content

• argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)

• display to a high level, skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control

• describe, evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking

• discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations

• take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature

• engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions

• demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise

• situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)

apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).

Teaching Information

Weekly: one hour lecture, one hour seminar.

Assessment Information

Students will be assessed via a 3000-word summative essay. They will also submit a 2500-word formative essay, and they will also present, as part of a group, a seminar.

Reading and References

• Dante Alighieri, Inferno (ed. and trans. Robert M. Durling)

• Stephen Bemrose, A New Life of Dante

• Peter Hawkins, Dantes Testaments: Essays in Scriptural Imagination

• Rachel Jacoff, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Dante

• Richard Lansing, ed., Dante and Theology: The Biblical Tradition and Christian Allegory

• John Scott, Understanding Dante