Augustine's City of God

Week 1 (August 26): Introduction
Topics, methods, and goals of the seminar; no reading

Week 2 (September 2): Augustine of Hippo
Reading:
Peter Brown. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Revised edition, 2000. [Review of Brown: Rachael Kerrigan]
Book Review Presentation Handout (pdf)

Week 3 (September 9): Christianity and Empire
Reading:
Eusebius, Oration in Praise of Constantine (pdf here) [presentation: Frankie Griffen]
Orosius, Seven Books of History Against the Pagans, Prologue and Book 1 (pdf here) and Book 7 (pdf here) [presentation: Jeremy Pearson]
Augustine, Sermon 81 (pdf here); letter 111 to Victorianus (pdf here)
O’Daly, chs. 1-5
Primary Source Presentation Handout (pdf)

Week 4 (September 16): City of God I  
Latin preparation 1: De civ. dei I, Preface (pdf here)
Reading:
Augustine, City of God, books 1-5 [presentation: Emily Warde]
O’Daly, ch. 6; Markus, pp. vii-71.[Review of Markus: Melinda Stephens]

Week 5 (September 23): City of God II
Reading:
Augustine, City of God, books 6-10 [presentation: Megan Garedakis]
O’Daly, ch. 7; Markus, pp. 72-186.

Week 6 (September 30): City of God III
Reading:
Augustine, City of God, books 11-14 [presentation: Rachael Kerrigan]
O’Daly, ch. 8; Fredriksen, pp. xi-154. [Review of Fredriksen: Meredith Folsom]

Week 7 (October 7): Research methods seminar
No reading; seminar location TBD

Week 8 (October 14): City of God IV
Reading:
O’Daly, ch. 9; Fredriksen, pp. 155-366. [Review of Fredriksen: Meredith Folsom]
[Review of TBD: Franklin Griffen]

Week 9 (October 21): City of God V
Reading:
Augustine, City of God, books 15-18 [presentation: Amanda Machi]
O’Daly, ch. 10
O’Donnell, pp. 1-112 [Review of O’Donnell: Megan Garedakis]

Week 10 (October 28): Augustine as reader
Reading:
Augustine, City of God, books 19-22 (end) [presentation: Melinda Stephens]
O’Daly, ch. 11; O’Donnell, pp. 113-260
Optional reading:
Brian Stock, Augustine the Reader (Cambridge, MA, 1996). [Review of Stock: Amanda Machi]
[Review of TBD, Emily Warde]

Week 11 (November 4): Augustine and his contemporaries
Latin reading:
Retractations 2.43 (on the City of God) text here
Primary source readings:
Augustine, Letters 132, 135-139 (correspondence with Marcellinus and Volusianus): NPNF translation
Augustine, Letters 152-155 (correspondence with Macedonius): Cambridge translation
 Pelagius, Letter to Demetrias (from The Letters of Pelagius, tr. Robert van de Weyer)
[presentations by Leandra Bruzzone and Meredith Folsom]
Secondary reading:
O’Donnell, pp. 261-332; Mark Vessey, “Opus Imperfectum: Augustine and his readers, 426-435 A.D.,” Vigiliae Christianae 52 (1998) 264-285 [J-STOR].
Abstracts & bibliographies due today **note change from Week 10**

[November 11: Veteran’s Day, no classes]

Week 12 (November 18): Medieval readings of Augustine and the City of God
Reading:
James J. O’Donnell, Cassiodorus (Berkeley, CA: 1979), chs. 5 & 6 Download here
[Review of TBD, Jeremy Pearson]
[Review of TBD, Leandra Bruzzone]

[November 22-26: Fall Recess, no classes]

Week 13 (December 2): Student Presentations
Research Presentation Handout (pdf)

Week 14 (December 9): Student Presentations

Final research papers due Thursday, December 16 by 4 pm