CAS RN 410/HI 410 GRS RN 710 STH TX871 Religion, Community, and Culture in Medieval Spain Professor: Deeana Klepper 147 Bay State Road, Room 408 617 358-0186 [email protected]All the lands in their diversity are one, and men are all neighbors and brothers al-Zabaidi, tutor of Caliph al-Hakam II of Cordoba (961-976) Catedral de Santa María, Burgos Alhambra Mosque, Granada Synagoga El Transito, Toledo In this course, we will explore interactions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in medieval Europe's most religiously diverse region - from the establishment of an Islamic al-Andalus in 711 CE through the final Christian "reconquest" of the peninsula and expulsion of the Jews in 1492 and expulsion of the Moriscos (Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity) in 1609. Themes include religion and communal identities, the complexities of cultural engagement in pluralistic environments, and toleration and its limits. You can expect to gain an understanding of current scholarship in the field, to develop familiarity with primary sources and methods for interpreting them, and to engage both of these things in the construction of a substantive research paper (for undergraduates) or bibliographic essay (for graduate students). Course Requirements: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. If you know that you will miss class because you are sick or are away from school for an emergency, please try to let me know ahead of time, if possible, via phone or e-mail. More than two unexcused absences during the semester may result in a lower overall grade in addition to an unsatisfactory class participation grade. Graded work for the seminar will include class participation (30%); weekly response papers (30%), and a final research paper (40%). Students will also be expected to prepare and lead discussion on one week's reading. The class participation grade will be based on attendance, the level of your preparedness to discuss the material, your presentation to the class/discussion leading during your assigned week, and your general involvement in the seminar. Please note that students must complete all written work in order to receive a passing grade for the class. Note: University policy is that students have the right to be excused from class for the observance of religious holidays. However, it is your responsibility to notify faculty ahead of time and to arrange to make up any work you might miss. If you plan to miss class for this reason, you must let me know at the beginning of the Religion, Community, and Culture in Medieval Spain file:///Users/deannaklepper/Dropbox/BU Courses/RN410/RN4... 1 of 5 8/23/14, 9:23 AM
Transcript
CAS RN 410/HI 410 GRS RN 710 STH TX871
Religion, Community, and Culture in Medieval Spain
Professor: Deeana Klepper147 Bay State Road, Room 408
All the lands in their diversity are one, and men are all neighbors and brothersal-Zabaidi, tutor of Caliph al-Hakam II of Cordoba (961-976)
Catedral de Santa María, Burgos Alhambra Mosque, Granada Synagoga El Transito, Toledo
In this course, we will explore interactions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in medieval Europe's mostreligiously diverse region - from the establishment of an Islamic al-Andalus in 711 CE through the finalChristian "reconquest" of the peninsula and expulsion of the Jews in 1492 and expulsion of the Moriscos(Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity) in 1609. Themes include religion and communal identities, thecomplexities of cultural engagement in pluralistic environments, and toleration and its limits. You can expectto gain an understanding of current scholarship in the field, to develop familiarity with primary sources andmethods for interpreting them, and to engage both of these things in the construction of a substantiveresearch paper (for undergraduates) or bibliographic essay (for graduate students).
Course Requirements:
Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. If you know that you will miss class because youare sick or are away from school for an emergency, please try to let me know ahead of time, if possible, viaphone or e-mail. More than two unexcused absences during the semester may result in a lower overall gradein addition to an unsatisfactory class participation grade. Graded work for the seminar will include classparticipation (30%); weekly response papers (30%), and a final research paper (40%). Students will also beexpected to prepare and lead discussion on one week's reading. The class participation grade will be based onattendance, the level of your preparedness to discuss the material, your presentation to the class/discussionleading during your assigned week, and your general involvement in the seminar. Please note that studentsmust complete all written work in order to receive a passing grade for the class.
Note: University policy is that students have the right to be excused from class for the observance of religiousholidays. However, it is your responsibility to notify faculty ahead of time and to arrange to make up any workyou might miss. If you plan to miss class for this reason, you must let me know at the beginning of the
Religion, Community, and Culture in Medieval Spain file:///Users/deannaklepper/Dropbox/BU Courses/RN410/RN4...
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semester.
Expectations of Integrity: All students should familiarize themselves with the Boston University AcademicConduct Code or College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Academic Conduct Code as appropriate andadhere to it. Please see also my plagiarism policy.
Students with Disabilities: Any student with a documented disability who requires academicaccommodations should contact Disability Services as soon as possible to request an official letter outliningauthorized accommodations. If you suspect that you may have an undiagnosed disability that is interfering withyour success in your coursework, please come see me and I will help direct you to the appropriate resources atBU.
Required Books:
Bernard F. Reilly, The Medieval Spains (Cambridge University Press, 1996) ISBN:9780521397414
Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World, (Back Bay Books, Reprint Edition ISBN:9780316168717
Olivia R. Constable ed., Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and JewishSources, 2nd Edition (U Penn Press, 2011), ISBN: 9780812221688
Burton Raffel, trans. Song of the Cid, (Penguin Classics, 2009) ISBN: 9780143105657
Peter Cole, trans. and ed., The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim andChristian Spain 950-1492, (Princeton, 2007) ISBN: 9780691121956
Ibn 'Arabi, Sufis of Andalusia, trans. Ralph Austin (Routledge/Taylor reprint, 2013) ISBN:9780415850896
Lu Ann Homza, ed., The Spanish Inquisition: An Anthology of Sources, (Hackett, 2006)ISBN: 9780872207943
Copies of required books will be held on 24 hour reserve in Mugar Library.
Other Readings:
A number of readings are available on the Blackboard Learn site or directly through Mugar Library. Pleasebring all readings to class each week. You may either print out electronic readings or bring your laptop ortablet to class.
Assignments:
Response Papers: Students will be asked to write weekly 2-page response papers, due by 11:59 on Sunday.Students may opt out of this assignment any three weeks of the semester (i.e., you will write ten responsesover the course of the semester). Each response will be worth a possible 10 points for a total of 100 points overthe course of the semester.
Final Paper: Students will write a final research paper on a topic of their own choosing. Undergraduate papersshould be 12-15 pages long, graduate papers should be 15-20 pages long. Guidelines may be found below.
Discussion Leading: There will be a sign up sheet for discussion leading. Take a look and choose a week thatworks for you in terms of topic, schedule, or both. By 11:59 PM Sunday night of the week you are scheduled,you should post a brief entry to the Blackboard Learn Blog highlighting some of your thoughts on thedocument(s), book, or article on which you'll be leading discussion, including several questions for classmates
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to ponder. In class, you will give a presentation of no more than 10 minutes and will be given the opportunityto manage discussion. Feel free to contribute graphics, timelines, etc. Most weeks we will have two presenters,and you are encouraged to work together to establish a division of labor and content.
Schedule:
Sep 2 What is at Stake: Concerns about Religious Intolerance Today and the Idealization ofReligious Pluralism in Medieval Spain
Sep 9 Envisioning a Pluralistic Ideal: The Construction of "Convivencia"
Maria Rosa Menocal, Ornament of the World, 1-100; 174-188; 244-283
Additional Graduate Reading: Menocal, Ornament of the World, entire
Sep 16 Jews in Visigothic Christian Spain
Olivia Remie Constable, Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and JewishSources, 2nd ed., 3-29; Bernard Reilly, Medieval Spains, ; Rachel L. Stocking, "EarlyMedieval Christian Identity and Anti-Judaism: The Case of the Visigothic Kingdom," ReligionCompass 2:4
Sep 23 Muslim Arrival and the Establishment of al-Andalus
Constable, Medieval Iberia, 31-66; Reilly, Medieval Spains, ; Jessica Coope, The Martyrs ofCórdoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion (Lincoln, NB, 1995),xv-xvii, 1-34 [Learn]; Chronica Prophetica, trans. Kenneth Baxter Wolf
Additional Graduate Reading: Kenneth Baxter Wolf, Christian Martyrs in Muslim Spain(Cambridge, 1988) [Library of Iberian Sources Online]
Sep 30 The Umayyad Caliphate and its Courtly Culture
Constable, Medieval Iberia, 75-100; Maribel Fierro, ‘Abd al-Rahman III: The First CordobanCaliph (Oxford, 2005), pp. 105-131 [Learn]; Abraham ibn Daud, "The Succession of theRabbinate," Book of Tradition, Gershon Cohen, ed., trans., 63-67 [Learn]; Andalus: MoorishSongs of Love and Wine, trans. T. J. Gorton (London, 2007), pp. 28-29, 32, 36, 41-52;[Learn]; Peter Cole, Dream of the Poem, 23-69
Oct 7 Conquest, (Re)conquest, and Frontiers
Constable, Medieval Iberia, 131-141; 273-292; Reilly, Medieval Spains, ; Jonathan Ray, TheSephardic Frontier: The Reconquista and the Jewish Community in Medieval Iberia (CornellUniversity Press, 2006) 1-54; 145-179 [Learn]; Brian Catlos, The Victors and theVanquished: Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050-1300 (Cambridge,2004), 71-120 [Learn]; Oldradus de Ponte, Consilium 72, "Whether a war against theSaracens of Spain is licit"[Learn]
Oct 14 BU on Monday Schedule: No Class
Oct 21 Song of the Cid
Burton Raffel, trans., The Song of the Cid
Oct 28 Arts and Religious Identity
Katrin Kogman-Appel, "Hebrew Manuscript Painting in Late Medieval Spain: Signs of a
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Culture in Transition," The Art Bulletin 84 (2002); Jonathan Decter, Iberian JewishLiterature: Between al-Andalus and Christian Europe, Introduction and Chapters 1-2[Learn]; Cole, Dream of the Poem, 143-164; 173-191
Research Paper Proposals Due by 11:59 PM
Nov 4 Religious Devotion and Mysticism
Ibn 'Arabi, Sufis of Andalusia, Ralph Austin, ed., trans.; Cole, Dream of the Poem, 74-110;119-120; 154-170; Diana Lobel, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in BahyaIbn Paquda's Duties of the Heart (Philadelphia, 2007), Chapters 1 and 2 [Learn]
Additional Graduate Reading: Lobel, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue, entire [Mugar Libraryreserve]
Nov 11 Urban Space and Religious Identity
Maria Menocal and Jerrilynn Dodds, The Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims inthe Making of Castilian Culture (New Haven, 2009), 45-94; 132 [Learn]; Elka Klein, Jews,Christian Society, And Royal Power in Medieval Barcelona (Ann Arbor, 2007), Chapters 1, 2,8, and Conclusion [Learn]
Nov 15: Annotated Bibliographies Due by 11:59 PM
Nov 18 Food and Religious Identity
David Freidenreich, Foreigners and Their Food: Constructing Otherness in Jewish, Christian,and Islamic Law [excerpts on Learn]
Additional Graduate Reading: Freidenreich, Foreigners and Their Food, entire [MugarLibrary reserve]
Nov 25 Conversions
Constable, Medieval Iberia, 399-414; Paola Tartakoff, Between Christian and Jew:Conversion and Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon (Philadelphia, 2012), 1-10; 63-98[Learn]; David Nirenberg, "Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians inMedieval Spain," American Historical Review 107 (Oct. 2002)
Dec 2 Expulsion of the Jews and the Conquest of Grenada; Converted Jews and Muslims in earlymodern Spain
Constable, Medieval Iberia, 496-523; 535-546; Lu Ann Homza, ed., trans., The SpanishInquisition: An Anthology of Sources (Indianapolis, 2006); Renée Levine Melammed,Heretics or Daughters of Israel? The Crypto-Jewish Women of Castile (Oxford, 1999),Chapters 1 and 4 [Learn]; Mary Elizabeth Perry, The Handless Maiden : Moriscos and thePolitics of Religion in Early Modern Spain (Princeton, 2005), Chapters 1-3 [Learn]
Additional Graduate Reading: Mary Elizabeth Perry, The Handless Maiden, entire [MugarLibrary reserve]
Dec 9 Convivencia, Again...
Jonathan Ray,"Beyond Tolerance and Persecution: Reassessing Our Approach to Medieval'Convivencia'" Jewish Social Studies, New Series, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Winter, 2005), pp. 1-18;Kenneth Baxter Wolf, "Convivencia in Medieval Spain: A Brief History of an Idea," ReligionCompass 3 (2009)
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Thursday, Dec 11: Final Papers Due. Submit to Learn site by 11:59 PM
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