Culture and Civilisation of Byzantium and the Christian East II

lglor2521  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Culture and Civilisation of Byzantium and the Christian East II
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
30.0 h
Q2

This biannual learning unit is being organized in 2019-2020
Teacher(s)
Schmidt Andrea Barbara; Somers Véronique;
Language
French
Prerequisites
It is advisable that the student has followed the course LGLOR1522.
Main themes
In-depth study of the Christian communities in the Byzantine, Caucasian and Oriental world.
Alternately with LGLOR2522, this course deals with the following themes, on the base of textual sources and scientific studies:
1. Themes specific to one epoch or to a given region;
2. The development or the disappearance of a cultural phenomenon, in relevance to historical or religious circumstances;
3. The relation between culture and literary memory;
4. The interaction between Greek and Oriental milieus.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1  At the end of this course, the student will be familiar with a rigorous scientific approach to textual sources and to questions specific to these communities. He will be able of undertaking a research of limited dimensions on one of the cultural aspects of the Christian communities in the Orient, and of presenting his conclusions orally.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
1. Byzantium : the object of the course will be determined according to the students' specific interests. Themes such as the following might be treated: hagiography and the cult of relics, Byzantium and the Cruisades, eunuchs' role during the Byzantine era; a specific author, opus, or lliterary field; etc. 
2.Oriental Christianity: This part of the course is concerned with the cultural phenomena iof Eastern Christianity, an area that is very large geographically and heterogeneous, multilingual and multi-confessional. Several themes can be studies in lenght as are:
- writing, literature and identity issues among the Christian-Eastern peoples their role in cultural and national  shaping;
- the originof Eastern Christian literature, their relation to Greek-Byzantine literature;
- Libraries and Cultural Centers in past and presence
- Christian-Eastern diaspora in the Western world and the question of cultural survival;
- the beginning of Christian-Oriental studies in Medieval Europe;
- current research in the fields of Eastern Christian studies
Teaching methods
1. For both parts of the course (Byzantium and Eastern Christianity) : teaching is ex cathedra as well requiring active participation (reading and research). Special attention will be given to original sources and tools.
Evaluation methods
Students must complete both parts of the course. The final grade will be a synthesis of the two notes
1. Byzantium (50%) : students will be examined on the synthesis work they will have to write on a subject chosen by themselvs and approved by the professor. 
2. Eastern CHristianity /50%): Continuous evaluation. At the end of this part of the course the student has to write down an oral presentation (10 min.) on a subject chosen by himself and approved by the professor. The presentation will be given in the course and discussed.
Evaluation is continuous. The students are marked on the work of synthesis and its oral presentation.
Other information
1. Byzantium : students following that course must register and write to V. Somers in order to obtain the documents avalaible on Moodle or else. 
Bibliography
1. Byzance : La bibliographie est distribuée au cours.
2. Orient chrétien : Les éléments bibliographiques et les sources textuelles seront fournis au cours.
Faculty or entity
GLOR


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Ancient Languages and Literatures: Oriental Studies

Master [60] in Ancient Languages and Literatures : Oriental Studies

Master [120] in History of Art and Archaeology : General