27280 - Seminars (1) (G.D)

Learning outcomes

The seminar is strictly related to the objectives of the degree course. Students will acquire specific skills to address topics and methodological issues of crucial relevance for anthropological research.

Course contents

Christian Gnosticism in Antiquity: Texts, History, Cultural Influence

Christian Gnosticism that flourished between the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE is one of the most important and influential late antique religious movements. Born as a sophisticated reinterpretation of early Christian, Jewish, philosophical Greek and (in some cases) Egyptian sources and traditions, it was soon considered “heretical” by the mainstream Christianity of that time. However, its doctrines – in particular, the sense of alienation from the world and the liberating rediscovery of the divine within oneself – have continued to have a significant cultural influence, in religious, philosophical, academic, and artistic spheres, from medieval dualisms to modern esotericisms to contemporary literature and cinema, from Borges to Eco, from The Truman Show to The Matrix.

The seminar (30 hours) will introduce students to the complex Gnostic religious phenomenon, providing the tools to explore its historical contextualization and analyze the sources. It will be structured in two parts:

1. In the first part (about 18 hours), through taught classes, the teacher will provide an introduction to the topics covered and methodological issues; he will explain the problems related to the definition of “Gnosticism” and will illustrate the relationships between Gnosticism and both early Christianity and other religious and cultural traditions; he will present the main extant sources (Coptic codices, Greek and Latin sources, etc.) and the issues related to the use of them. He will provide an historical overview, and some insights for a diachronic study of Gnosticism and its reception history.
2. In the second part (about 12 hours), students will present short papers in the classroom. Individually or in small groups (depending on the number of participants), they will choose (in agreement with the teacher) a topic related to the seminar themes and will make an oral presentation. They may choose to delve into a specific Gnostic writing not examined during the course, presenting an overview of it; they might delve into the analysis of a specific passage; they might work on one or more key concepts, conducting analysis and intertextual comparisons; they may delve into the reception of one or more Gnostic “motifs,” in areas of their choice (literature, cinema…). The teacher will suggest, for each case, a basic bibliography to help them start preparing their presentation.

Classes are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays, h. 9-11, and on Fridays, h. 15-17, always in Aula Celio (via Zamboni 38).

Readings/Bibliography

For an appropriate understanding of the basic contents, it is necessary to read:

• C. Markschies, La gnosi, Claudiana, Torino 2019.

The following translations will be used for the Gnostic texts and other sources analyzed in class:

1) A. Annese, F. Berno, D. Tripaldi (a cura di), I codici di Nag Hammadi. Prima traduzione italiana integrale, Carocci, Roma 2024 (selected parts which will be indicated during the course).

2) M. Simonetti (a cura di), Testi gnostici in lingua greca e latina, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla – Arnoldo Mondadori, Milano 1993 (selected parts indicated during the course and made available on Virtuale).

3) Other Gnostic sources: brief excerpts that will be made available by the teacher on Virtuale.

 

In preparing their presentations, students will start by consulting some or all of the following texts as needed:

I) N. Denzey Lewis, I manoscritti di Nag Hammadi. Una biblioteca gnostica del IV secolo, Carocci, Roma 2019.

II) K. Rudolph, La gnosi. Natura e storia di una religione tardoantica, Paideia, Brescia 1990.

III) A.D. DeConick, The Gnostic New Age. How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today, Columbia UP, New York 2016.

IV) G. Lettieri, Della patologia del pensiero: note su Plotino e gli gnostici, in P. Vitellaro Zuccarello (a cura di), Gnosi. Nostalgia della luce, Mimesis, Milano – Udine 2012, pp. 31-51 [available online @ academia.edu].

V) A. Magris, La logica del pensiero gnostico, Morcelliana, Brescia 2012.

VI) G.W. Trompf, G.B. Mikkelsen, J. Johnston (eds.), The Gnostic World, Routledge, London – New York 2019.

VII) C. Moreschini, E. Norelli, Storia della letteratura cristiana antica greca e latina. I. Da Paolo all’età costantiniana. Nuova edizione riveduta e ampliata, Morcelliana, Brescia 2019, pp. 249-267 and 326-364.

VIII) I.P. Culianu, I miti dei dualismi occidentali. Dai sistemi gnostici al mondo moderno, Rusconi, Milano 2022.

IX) J.-P. Mahé, P.-H. Poirier (éds.), Écrits gnostiques. La bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi, Gallimard, Paris 2007.

Additional specific bibliography will be planned with the teacher, depending on the topic of each paper.

 

Non-attending students will study:

1. C. Markschies, La gnosi, Claudiana, Torino 2019.
2. N. Denzey Lewis, I manoscritti di Nag Hammadi. Una biblioteca gnostica del IV secolo, Carocci, Roma 2019.

Teaching methods

Taught classes; historical-critical analysis of sources; use of images and PowerPoint presentations (with maps, reproductions of manuscripts, etc.). During the second part: seminar activity (paper presentations by the students).

When appropriate, the teacher reserves the right to invite experts to enrich the seminar with targeted insights.

Assessment methods

The course structure is designed for classroom work and active participation. Attendance is therefore strongly recommended. Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

For those attending, the assessment of learning will consist of verifying regular attendance in the course and participation in the seminar activity with the presentation and classroom discussion of a paper, made on the basis of appropriate bibliography (see above, “Texts/Bibliography”).

Non-attending students (or attending students who, for exceptional and justified reasons, cannot present their paper), will take an oral exam focusing on the Bibliography for non-attending students (see above).

The assessment (both for attending and non-attending students) will be on a pass/not pass basis and be based on command of technical vocabulary; mastery of the seminar’s contents; the ability to synthesise and analyse issues and problems within the texts; the ability to present clearly and adequately what has been learned.

The students’ achievement of adequate mastery of content, good analytical and expressive skills, and mastery of specific vocabulary will allow the achievement of the qualification. Formative gaps, insufficient mastery of vocabulary, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials offered during the course will be evaluated negatively and will not allow the achievement of the qualification.

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months of the academic year:

February, March, May, June, July, September, October, December (one session for each of these months). Sessions are available for all students (if not otherwise noted in AlmaEsami).

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations; images; transcripts and scans of sources.

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 Andrea Annese