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Instructor: Prof Hildegund Müller
3 credit hours
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) is generally recognized to be the greatest of the Latin Church Fathers and one of the foremost thinkers of the Western Church. Have you ever wanted to encounter his ideas in the Latin original, but have shied away from the complexity and sheer volume of his major works? Then this course is for you! We will approach Augustine's teachings the same way his congregation did: through reading his sermons in Latin and listening as he explains his thoughts on grace, the sacraments and priesthood, the Bible, and the history of salvation in the clear and accessible words of a preacher. The readings are suitable for students who have taken an Intermediate Latin course or anyone at an intermediate or advanced level, both first-time learners and students who want to refresh their Latin or take their first steps in Christian Latin. The course provides an introduction to Augustine's major ideas, as well as his life and the events of his bishopric, including his fight against pagan beliefs and those Christian groups he considered heretical. We will encounter Augustine as a thinker, a reader of the Bible, a shepherd of souls, and a mystic. In addition to the texts themselves, we will consider the historical, liturgical, and philosophical background and discuss the material context in which his sermons were delivered: the buildings and their furniture, the listeners and the cities they inhabited, the preacher, his rhetoric, and his body language.
Register through Summer Sessions.
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