FREN 3670 - [An Introduction to Saints]

(crosslisted)
(also ITAL 3670, MEDVL 3670, RELST 3670)(HB) (LA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits.

Next offered 2015-2016. Conducted in English.

C. Howie.

We’ll aim to familiarize students with the long history and ongoing significance of saints for Christian (and non-Christian) literature, art, and practice. We’ll begin with the first taste of hagiography - the Greek word that means literally the “writing of sanctity” - in the Acts of the Apostles, then proceed to early lives of desert hermits and virtuous women, before turning to the great flourishing of saints in the literature and art of the European Middle Ages. We’ll also address the cult of relics - what does it mean to touch the remains of a blessed body? - as well as syncretism (the blending of indigenous religion and Christianity, often in the colonial world) and the secular afterlives of sanctity in contemporary American culture. Students will be invited to pursue a semester-long project about a particular saint or account of sanctity (including critiques of sanctity).