Course syllabus

Welcome to the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion

Here, you can obtain general information about the course, such as syllabus, reading list and schedule. 

• Syllabus (enter the course code RT2313 in the search box)
• Reading List
  
• Schedule - The schedule is only for students who will attend the campus course. The online course starts on Canvas on the same date as the campus course, according to the schedule. You will then find information from the teacher.

 

CLASS AND READING SCHEDULE

Week 45 (begins 4 November) -- Introduction

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Seminar, Monday 4 November, 13:15-15, Room H331.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Watch introductory lecture, which should be posted under ’Files’. Begin preparing for week 47 seminar.

                     

Week 47 (begins 18 November) – Augustine and Theological Autobiography

Reading: Augustine, Confessions, Books 1-4, 7-8, 10-13.

Text available at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1101.htm

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Email reading response assignment to instructor by midnight on Sunday, 17 November.  Take part in seminar on Monday 18 November, 13:15-15, Room H331.  

ONLINE STUDENTS: Post reading response assignment in the discussion forum on Canvas by midnight on Sunday, 17 November. Complete seminar discussion by posting *at least* four comments engaging with other students by midnight on Sunday 1 December.

 

Week 49 (begins 2 December) – Augustine and the theology of history

Reading: Augustine, City of God, Books 1-2, 4-5, 8-10, 11.1-11.4, 11.24-11.29, 12.5-12.9, 13.1-13.5, 14.1-14.7, 14.12-14.15, 15.1-15.9, 15.21-15.23, 19.

Text available at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Email reading response assignment to instructor by midnight on Sunday, 1 December.  Take part in seminar on Monday 2 December, 13:15-15, Room H331.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Post reading response assignment in the discussion forum on Canvas by midnight on Sunday, 1 December.  Complete seminar discussion by posting *at least* four comments engaging with other students by midnight on Sunday, 15 December.

 

Week 51 (begins 16 December) – Augustine and the Theology of the Trinity I

Reading: Augustine, De Trinitate, Books 1, 4-9. 

Text available at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1301.htm

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Email reading response assignment to instructor by midnight on Sunday, 15 December.  Take part in seminar on Monday 15 December, 13:15-15, Room H331.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Post reading response assignment in the discussion forum on Canvas by midnight on Sunday, 15 December. Complete seminar discussion by posting *at least* four comments engaging with other students by midnight on Sunday, 5 January.

 

Week 2 (begins 6 January 2020) – Augustine and the Theology of the Trinity II

Reading: Reading: Augustine: De Trinitate, Books 10, 12-15.

Text available at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1301.htm

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Email reading response assignment to instructor by midnight on Sunday, 5 January.  Take part in seminar on Tuesday 7 January, 13:15-15, Room H331.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Post reading response assignment in the discussion forum on Canvas by midnight on Sunday, 5 January.  Complete seminar discussion by posting *at least* four comments engaging with other students by midnight on Sunday 19 January.

**ESSAYS FOR BOTH CAMPUS AND ONLINE STUDENTS DUE FRIDAY 17 JANUARY 2020.**

 

ASSIGNMENT AND ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Course assessment involves two assignment elements:

(1) Preparation for and participation in seminar sessions.  Students are required to prepare for and participate in each seminar session.  

Preparation: every student, both campus and online, is required to prepare for seminar by writing a 700 word assignment that summarizes the reading for the week (think about answering two key questions: (i) What is the author's main point? (ii) How does the author develop or defend the main point?) and raises a couple of questions for discussion.  Every student is also responsible for leading one seminar session.  Leading the seminar means giving a presentation that introduces the author, the author's context, and the author's goal in writing, and gives some assessment of the author's success in meeting the goal.  For on campus students, this presentation is given orally in class.  For online students, this presentation is posted in written form in Canvas.  Students who are leading the session do not need to prepare a 700 word response assignment.

Participation: every student, both campus and online, is required to participate in the seminar session by participating in discussion of the text and topic for the week. 

If you are unable to participate in a particular session, email the instructor and arrange an alternate assignment.  Seminar participation is graded only with a 'G' or a 'U'.  Participation in every seminar is required in order to receive a 'G'. 

ON CAMPUS STUDENTS: Seminars occur as part of the scheduled class sessions. Students are to email their 700 word reading response assignments to the instructor by midnight on the day before the seminar, and take active part in the seminar discussion.  A schedule for leading the seminar will be arranged during the first class session.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Seminars are conducted through the discussion forum in that is found on the course's Canvas page.  Each student is required to post their 700 word assignment in the discussion forum by midnight on the Sunday before the seminar week begins (so, e.g., the assignment is to be posted by midnight on Sunday 15 September for the text that will be discussed during week 3 of the course).  The seminar leader for the week is responsible for posting a written introduction by this same deadline.  Each student is then required to participate in the seminar by making *at least* four comments engaging with other students, beginning with a comment in response to the seminar leader's introduction.  Comments are due before the next seminar begins.

(2) Final essay.  Final essays for both campus and online students are due by midnight on Friday 17 January 2020.  Essays are to be submitted by email to martin.westerholm@lir.gu.se.  They are to be approximately 2000 words, and are to address a question that is relevant to questions and material covered in the course.  Students are to formulate their own essay topics in dialogue with the course instructor.    

 

Some resources that might help you in our work:

Ayres, Lewis. Augustine and the Trinity.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

-------------------.  ‘The Christological Context of Augustine’s De Trinitate XIII: Toward Relocating Books VIII-XV’.  Augustinian Studies 29.1 (1998): 111-139.

-------------------. ‘The Discipline of Self-Knowledge in Augustine’s De Trinitate Book X’. In The Passionate Intellect.  Edited by Lewis Ayres. London: Transaction Publishers, 1995, pp. 261-96.

Brown, Peter.  Augustine of Hippo. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000.

Cary, Phillip. Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Cavadini, John. ‘The Structure and Intention of Augustine’s De Trinitate’. Augustinian Studies 23 (1992): 103-23.

Doody, John, et. al., editors.  Augustine and Politics.  New York: Lexington Books, 2005.

Fitzgerald, Allan D., general editor. Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.

Gioia, Luigi. The Theological Epistemology of Augustine’s De Trinitate. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Gregory, Eric. Politics and the Order of Love.  Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2008.

Markus, Robert. Saeculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

Matthewes, Charles. ‘Augustinian Anthropology: Interior intimo meo’.  Journal of Religious Ethics 27, no. 2 (Summer 1999): 195-221. 

O’Daly, Gerard.  Augustine’s City of God: a reader’s guide.  Oxford: Clarendon, 1999.

O’Donovan, Oliver. The Problem of Self-Love in St. Augustine.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980.

-------------------.  ‘Augustine’s City of God XIX and Western Political Thought’. Dionysius 11 (December 1987): 89-110.

Paffenroth, Kim, and Kennedy, Robert, editors.  A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions.  Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003.  

Pecknold, C. C., and Toom, Tarmo, editors.  The T. & T. Clark Companion to Augustine and Modern Theology.  London: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Wetzel, James, editor.  Augustine’s City of God: a critical guide.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

--------------------.  Augustine and the Limits of Virtue.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Williams, Rowan.  ‘Sapientia and the Trinity: Reflections on the De Trinitate’. In Collectanea Augustiniana.  Edited by B. Bruning, M. Lamberigts, and J. Van Houtem.  Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1990, pp. 317-32. 

-------------------. ‘Politics and the Soul: A Reading of the City of God’. Milltown Studies 19/20 (1987): 55-72.

 

Further links:

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Student Portal

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You will find information about the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion on our web site www.lir.gu.se