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The Commentary

Vak
2010-2011

Admission requirements

RMA Classics & Ancient Civilisations
MA Classics, Egyptology, Assyriology, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Literature

Description

For various reasons and purposes ancient civilisations have produced extensive commentaries on literary, philosophical, religious, mathematical, and astrological texts they considered to be of crucial importance to their cultural or professional identity. In this course a team of instructors will present representative samples of commentary literature from each of the cultures studied in the research master Classics & Ancient Civilisations. Central issues will be the causes that led to the rise and development of a commentary tradition, the definition and characteristics of the genre, the context of the commentary in a teaching environment (if applicable), and the authors and public of commentaries. The resulting body of sample texts will then be used to perform a cross-cultural comparison that seeks to identify and explain similarities and differences between the cultural domains, and explore the possibilities of cross-cultural interaction in this field.

Course objectives

  • analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of commentary texts from different cultural backgrounds and

  • encouragement of critical thinking

  • the student is able to comment on similarities and differences between commentaries derived from various cultures and to their interaction

Timetable

Timetable

Mode of instruction

  • Introductory lectures

  • Student presentations

  • Independent study of scholarly literature

Assessment method

Class presentation; final paper

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for course materials and the distribution of handouts.

Reading list

Registration

uSis

Contact information

Prof.dr. F.A.J. de Haas

Remarks

Specialisation: History of Philosophy