87367 - Entangled History and Religions (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have acquired a thorough knowledge of the methods and historiography necessary for the study of religions in interconnected contexts. They will be able to analyze different source material in order to understand and describe how religions create their worldviews and interact with the broader cultural, economic and material context.

Course contents

Analysing religious diversity. A historical journey

The aim of this class is to investigate the theme of religious diversity in the early modern period, through an historical journey focused on 'religious minorities', the urban environment, and the production of knowledge. We will explore how religion forged the built environment, how religious interactions and encounters among different groups were established and negotiated, and ultimately how religious diversity morphed during the rise of the modern world. The course aims to teach to think critically about religion/s, explore how different societies dealt with religious diversity, unearth the voices of women and men of the minorities, and finally analyse the development of discourses about 'religious toleration'.

A detailed Syllabus is uploaded in Virtuale.

Week 1 Introduction. The ‘city’ & ‘religious minorities’. Religion and the city

Week 2 Religious diversity 1: the Reformation and the rise of early global capitalism. The problem of ‘religious minorities’ and religious refugees. Case studies: Venice, Granada, Amsterdam.

Week 3 Religious diversity 2: the age of exploration and the rise of early global capitalism. Case studies: Mexico City and Surat. The encounter with other religious worlds, the rise of utopian thought and cultural relativism.

Week 4: Voices and the production of knowledge: Women, Refugees, Slaves, Conversos, Moriscos, Jews, Christian dissidents

Week 5: The production of knowledge II. Conclusions.

 

Readings/Bibliography

A. Students who did attend classes will select:

1. the collection of articles of Prof. Facchini in Virtuale (Facchini Cities);

2. 4 articles in Virtuale (see Syllabus)

3. One book from the list below:

• Brockey, Liam Matthew, ed., Portuguese Colonial Cities in the Early Modern World, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2009.
• Burchardt M., M. C. Giorda, eds., Geographies of Encounter, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2022.
• Chaudhuri, Supriya (ed.), Religion and the City in India, Routledge, London - New York, 2022.
• Goldhill, Simon, Jerusalem City of Longing, Cambridge – London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008
• Sebag Simon Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography, London: Widenfeld & Nicholson, 2011
• Katz, Dana, The Jewish Ghetto and the Visual Imagination of Early Modern Venice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017
• Khalek, Nancy, Damascus after the Muslim Conquest: Text and Image in Early Islam,Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011
  
• Lewis Michael J., City of Refuge: Separatist and Utopian Plan Planning (Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016)
• Marcocci Giuseppe, Wietse De Boer et al. eds. Space and Conversion in Global Perspective, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2015).
• Mazower Mark, Salonika, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims, and Jews, 1430-1950, Vintage Books, New York, 2004.
• Mundy Barbara, The Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Life of Mexico City, University of Texas Press, Austin 2015
• Rowe Nina, The Jew, the Cathedral, and the Medieval City: Synagoga and Ecclesia in the Thirteen Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge – New York, 2011 (chaps. 3,4,5)
• Rubin Miri, Cities of Strangers. Making Life in Medieval Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020
• Sanders Paula, Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid Cairo, Suny University Press, New York, 1994
  
• Sennet Richard, Flesh and Stone: the Body and the City in Western Civilization, Norton, New York - London, 1996.
• Wolper Ethel Sara, Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Medieval Anatolia, Philadelphia: Penn State University Press, 2003
• Monge Mathilde and Natalia Muchnik, Early Modern Diasporas. A European History, London and New York, Routledge, 2022.
• Charles H. Parker, Global Calvinism, New Haven & London: Princeton University Press, 2022.
• Zemon Davis, Natalie. Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth Century Lives. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
• Zemon Davis. Natalie. Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth Century Muslim Between Worlds. New York: Hill & Wang, 2006.
• Arendt, Hannah. Rahel Varhagen: The Life of a Jewess. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
• Westwater, Lynn Lara. Sarra Copia Sulam: A Jewish Salonnière and the Press in Counter-Reformation Venice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020.

For students who did not attend classes:

1. the collection of articles of Prof. Facchini in Virtuale (Facchini Cities);

2. Two books from the list below:

• Brockey Liam Matthew, ed., Portuguese Colonial Cities in the Early Modern World, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2009
• Burchardt M., M. C. Giorda, eds., Geographies of Encounter, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2022
• Chaudhuri Supriya (ed.), Religion and the City in India, Routledge, London - New York, 2022
• Goldhill Simon, Jerusalem City of Longing, Cambridge – London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008
• Katz Dana, The Jewish Ghetto and the Visual Imagination of Early Modern Venice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017
• Khalek Nancy, Damascus after the Muslim Conquest: Text and Image in Early Islam,Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011
• King Charles, Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams, Norton & Company, 2011 (anche in italiano)
• Lemire Vincent, Jerusalem 1900, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
• Lewis Michael J., City of Refuge: Separatist and Utopian Plan Planning (Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016)
• Marcocci Giuseppe, Wietse De Boer et al. eds. Space and Conversion in Global Perspective, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2015).
• Mazower Mark, Salonika, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims, and Jews, 1430-1950, Vintage Books, New York, 2004.
• Mundy Barbara, The Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Life of Mexico City, University of Texas Press, Austin 2015
• Rowe Nina, The Jew, the Cathedral, and the Medieval City: Synagoga and Ecclesia in the Thirteen Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge – New York, 2011 (chaps. 3,4,5)
• Rubin Miri, Cities of Strangers. Making Life in Medieval Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020
• Sanders Paula, Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid Cairo, Suny University Press, New York, 1994
• Sebag Simon Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography, London: Widenfeld & Nicholson, 2011
• Sennet Richard, ed., Classic Essays on the Culture of the Cities, Meredith Corporation, New York 1969
• Sennet Richard, Flesh and Stone: the Body and the City in Western Civilization, Norton, New York - London, 1996.
• Wolper Ethel Sara, Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Medieval Anatolia, Philadelphia: Penn State University Press, 2003
• Monge Mathilde and Natalia Muchnik, Early Modern Diasporas. A European History, London and New York, Routledge, 2022.
• Charles H. Parker, Global Calvinism, New Haven & London: Princeton University Press, 2022.
• Zemon Davis, Natalie. Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth Century Lives. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
• Arendt, Hannah. Rahel Varhagen: The Life of a Jewess (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997).
• Westwater, Lynn Lara. Sarra Copia Sulam: A Jewish Salonnière and the Press in Counter-Reformation Venice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020.
• Aslanian, Sebouh David. Early Modernity and Mobility: Port Cities and Printers Across the Armenian Diaspora, 1512-1800. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2023.

Teaching methods

Lectures are held through a seminar methodology based on discussions of texts and sources. Students are required to read the material which is listed in the Syllabus (in Virtuale).

A new online database Religious Minorities Online will be used during class.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Students will select books and articles from the bibliography listed above, and will have to pass an oral examination. The questions will be aimed at testing the student's ability in exposing with an appropriate language some of the topics tackled by the books, as well as his/her skills in making connections between different texts in order to build an argument. Proper language and the ability to critically speak about the books' content will lead to a good/excellent final grade. Acceptable language and the ability to resume the books' content will lead to a sufficient/fair grade. Insufficient linguistic proficiency and fragmentary knowledge of the books' content will lead to a failure in passing the exam.

During the academic year, six exam sessions are scheduled, generally in the following months: January, February, May, June, September, and December, for all students.

Teaching tools

Visual Aid, Powerpoint, Documentaries

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office:

 https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Cristiana Facchini