27928 - Laboratory (1) (LM) (G. D)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the workshop, students will be able to collect and organize complex information in a coherent way and apply methods of critical analysis to specific Late antique texts and manuscripts. They will be able to identify a research issue, relevant to historical research in Gnostic studies, and to select and properly use the convenient tools, including digital ones, to tackle it.

Course contents

The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnosticism: Sources, Tools, Methods

This workshop provides the basic knowledge and methodological tools for the study of late antique Gnostic texts and sources on Gnosticism – among the most relevant religious movements of antiquity – starting with the Nag Hammadi codices. Such a case study offers the opportunity to become familiar with digital and bibliographical tools, and methods of analysis, useful for also addressing other topics related to religious and cultural history (ancient and modern), also in view of writing theses or other scholarly publications.

In the first part, 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 sketch an historical-religious overview; he will present the main extant sources and the issues related to the use of them; he will provide some insights for a diachronic study of Gnosticism and its reception history.

Then the teacher will introduce students to the use of the main tools (printed and especially digital) useful in the study of the Nag Hammadi Coptic codices and other similar sources: bibliographies, lexicons, databases, and so on. Students will be encouraged to active participation.

All of this will provide students with the basic skills needed to write a short paper (approximately 15,000/25,000 characters including spaces) that must be submitted at least one week before the date of the exam in which they intend to apply. The topic will be agreed with the teacher, who will suggest additional bibliography. The paper may consist of a short essay on a topic inherent to the course, such as an in-depth study on one or more key concepts (also through intertextual comparisons), or on a specific Gnostic writing, or on a case history of reception (e.g., “Gnostic themes in J.L. Borges”); it may consist of a lexical-exegetical entry on a lemma; it may develop a historiographic topic.

Readings/Bibliography

For an introduction to the topics covered in the course, 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) Brief excerpts of other texts, that will be made available by the teacher on Virtuale.

 

A basic bibliography for preparing the students’ papers is suggested below (these are not mandatory texts to be studied for the exam):

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.

X) B. Pearson, Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature, Fortress Press, Minneapolis (MN) 2007.

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

Non-attending students will follow the instructions provided below, “Assessment methods.”

Teaching methods

Taught classes; historical-critical analysis of sources; use of images and PowerPoint; use of digital resources (databases, etc.). Taught classes are combined with seminar/workshop activities and guided group discussions.

When appropriate, the teacher reserves the right to invite experts to enrich the workshop 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 writing a short paper (ca. 15,000/25,000 characters including spaces), that must be submitted at least one week before the date of the exam in which the student intends to apply. At the exam, the papers will be briefly discussed with the teacher, who will communicate the grade (pass/not pass). The assessment will be based on command of technical vocabulary; mastery of contents; the ability to synthesise and analyse issues and sources; the ability to present clearly and adequately what has been learned.

Students who cannot attend are required to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course, in order to arrange for the writing of an equivalent written paper, which will be delivered and then discussed at the exam in the same manner as established for those attending. In this case, the oral examination will also assess the knowledge gained from the study of the following text:

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

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 of manuscripts; transcripts and scans of sources; online databases and other digital resources.]

 

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