HIS4131: Asceticism
Spring 2015 Stephen Higa
Th2:10-6pm Office Hours: Friday, 10-noon
Email:
[email protected]
In our world of decadence and consumerism, it is almost impossible to
fathom a world of discipline, renunciation, self-denial, and martyrdom.
The records of early Mediterranean asceticism—from the Greco-Roman
philosophers to the Christian saints—overflow with stories of men who stood
on pillars for years on end and women who wandered the harsh deserts
completely nude. In this course, we will examine the roots of our current
concepts of self and body by investigating these extravagant acts and the
philosophies that lay behind them.
requirements
1. Reading: There is a considerable amount of reading in this course. I
understand that
you have other courses, and even lives outside of school. I have
spent a good deal of time narrowing down all the things I would have
liked you to read. Therefore, I expect you to complete the readings
for each week so that you come to discussion section prepared to
engage the readings with your classmates in nuanced and fruitful ways.
2. Class discussion: The heart of this course is discussion. Each class
meeting, every student
must come prepared with questions about the readings for discussion.
These questions ought to be legitimate questions that would benefit
from communal hashing-out. Laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc. are not
permitted in class unless there is a documented need.
3. Attendance: You can't participate in discussion if you don't come to
class! It is mandatory
that you come to every class meeting. If you simply must miss out,
please let me know
as soon as possible. For the class that you miss, you are
responsible for turning in a paper
(~2 pages) responding thoughtfully to that meeting's readings. If
you do not make up the
class that you miss, you will not be able to pass this course.
4. Assignments: There will be various small assignments over the course of
the term. Participation in these "rituals," like participation in any
ritual, is a mandatory part of your membership in the class community.
Although these small assignments will not be
evaluated/graded, they will affect my evaluation of your overall
performance in the class. In addition to these small assignments, you
must complete a midterm paper as well as a
final project/paper (see below). Details about these assignments
will be handed out in
class.
5. Final: Each student is expected to complete a final paper. In lieu of
a final paper, however,
and in consultation with me, you may opt to confect your own creative
project. You will
be expected to compose a statement or explanation (~3 pages) of your
project to show
how it engages the themes of the class. At least three weeks before
your final
paper/project is due, you must come talk to me about it. You can
visit me during my
office hours (at the top of this syllabus) or set up an appointment
with me. Note:
emailing me is not a substitute!
Paper format:
All papers must be double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman with one-inch
margins on all sides. You must have a thesis statement, and that thesis
statement must be underlined. NOTE: If your paper does not follow these
specifications, I will return it to you and you will have to use up your
grace days (see "Extensions," below) to fix it and turn it in again. Also,
remember to proofread!
Evaluation:
Your evaluation will be based on attendance, participation in discussion,
your projects, writing assignments, and the final paper/project.
Extensions:
I realize that sometimes things pile up or life gets in the way of you
turning in an assignment on time. Therefore, you have a total of three
grace days for the semester. You are allowed to use some or all of them,
no questions asked. For example, if you use two grace days for the midterm
paper, you are allowed to use one grace day for the final paper (your
group's performance, however, must occur on the date specified on the
syllabus). Grace days work like this: if a paper is due Tuesday, you will
have used up all three grace days if you turn it in on Friday. Saturdays
and Sundays count.
Communication:
If you're having any trouble with the class material or if you find that
something in your life is interfering with your academics, please talk to
me before the issue becomes too difficult to manage. Of course, this isn't
the only reason to come see me! My office hours are at the top of this
syllabus; I very much want to get to know you, so please take advantage of
them!
required texts/books
Bamberger, John Eudes. Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos & Chapters on
Prayer. Trappist, KY: Cistercian Publications, 1972.
Clark, Gillian. Iamblichus: On the Pythagorean Life. Liverpool University
Press, 1989.
Dobbin, Robert, trans. Epictetus: Discourses and Selected Writings. Penguin
Classics, 2008.
Dobbin, Robert, trans. The Cynic Philosophers from Diogenes to Julian.
Penguin Classics, 2012.
Sherwood, Polycarp. St. Maximus the Confessor: The Ascetic Life, The Four
Centuries on Charity. Vol. 21 of Ancient Christian Writers. Mahwah, NJ:
The Newman Press, 1955.
Waddell, Helen. The Desert Fathers. University of Michigan Press, 1957.
Course Reader [R]
schedule
Feb. 26
Introduction
March 5: NO CLASS: STEPHEN OUT OF TOWN
The Cynic Philosophers, 3-13, 28-161.
March 12 (we will discuss the Cynics as well as Epictetus)
Epictetus: Discourses and Selected Writings, 1-206.
March 19
The early Christian martyrs, in Medieval Saints: A Reader, ed. Mary-
Ann Stouck (University of Toronto Press, 2008), 1-38. [R]
Origen, "Exhortation to Martyrdom," in Origen: Prayer and Exhortation
to Martyrdom, ed. and trans. John J. O'Meara, vol. 19 of
Ancient Christian Writers (Westminster, MD: The Newman
Press, 1954), 141-187. [R]
March 26
Athanasius, The Life of Anthony, in Early Christian Biographies, ed.
by Roy J. Deferrari, vol. 15 of The Fathers of the
Church: A New Translation (Washington, DC: The Catholic
University of America Press, 1981), 133-216. [R]
Theoderet of Cyrrhus, Life of Symeon Stylites, in Medieval Saints: A
Reader, ed. Mary- Ann Stouck (University of Toronto Press,
2008), 115-134. [R]
Jacob of Serug, Homily on Simeon the Stylites, in Ascetic Behavior in
Greco-Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook, ed. Vincent L.
Wimbush (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), 17-27. [R]
Ephraem of Edessa, Life of Mary of Egypt, in The Desert Fathers, 190-
201. [R]
April 2
The Desert Fathers, 45-155.
April 9
MIDTERM PAPER DUE
Ascetic writings by Basil of Caesarea, in St. Basil: Ascetical Works,
trans. Sister M. Monica Wagner, C.S.C., vol. 9 of The
Fathers of the Church: A New Translation (Washington, DC:
The Catholic University of America Press, 1990),15-36, 207-
222.
April 16
Hayim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky, ed., and William G.
Braude, trans., The Book of Legends (Sefer Ha-Aggadah):
Legends from the Talmud and Midrash (New York: Schocken Books,
1992), 201-331. [R]
April 23
Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life, 1-113.
April 30
Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer, 12-42, 52-
80.
May 7
Jerome, Letter to Eustochium. F.A. Wright, trans., Select Letters of
St. Jerome (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1933), 53-159.
[R]
May 14
Maximus the Confessor, The Ascetic Life and The Four Centuries on
Charity, 103-208.
May 21
Benedict's Rule, in The Early Middle Ages, ed. Patrick Geary, vol. 1
of Readings in Medieval History (Peterborough, Ontario:
Broadview Press, 2003), 168-198.
May 28
Final presentations
