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Humanities
450 "Saints and Sinners" (coming
in spring 2004)
To visit the Humanities Program's home page, click on this URL: http://www.mnsu.edu/humanity/welcome.html For information about this course, please e-mail the instructor: suzanne.bunkers@mnsu.edu ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Much madness–is Divinest Sense– To a Discerning Eye– Much sense–the starkest Madness– In this--the majority–as all prevail– Assent and you are Sane– Demur–you’re straightway Dangerous– And handled with a Chain–
–Emily Dickinson ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ What does it mean to be a "Saint"? What does it mean to be a "Sinner"? Did you know that not only historical figures (e.g., Joan of Arc, Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, Martin Luther, the Beguines) but also contemporary figures have been called by both labels? In this three-credit Honors 450 topics course, we will examine the topic, "Saints and Sinners," from a variety of perspectives based on Western cultural traditions. We will explore what it means to be a "saint" or a "sinner" by studying selected lives of the saints. We will analyze how related terms such as "heretic" and "witch" have been linked to historical movements, particularly in terms of resistance to cultural expectations. We will examine questions of good and evil in the 20th (and now the 21st) century. Some of our course work will involve the exploration of World Wide Web resources (see recommended sites below). As we discuss selections from Saint Augustine’s autobiographical Confessions, considered by many a classic conversion narrative, we will examine selected literary portraits of "saintliness" and "sinfulness." We will discuss the medieval pilgrimage, drawing on selections from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and exploring the role of the iconography and the labyrinth in the Cathedral of Chartres, France. We will explore the question of good and evil by discussing selections from the Compendium Maleficarum, one of the most important manuals ever compiled on witch persecutions in Europe. Next we will read and discuss Karen Cushman’s adolescent novel of medieval life, Catherine Called Birdy. We will view a documentary on the Inquisition as well as the1988 film Sorceress, a drama concerning a 13th century midwife and healer, Elda, and the Dominican frier sent by the Pope as an inquisitor whose objective is to identify and punish heretics. Next we will study the historical "witch persecutions" in western Europe. Then we will explore Nathaniel Hawthorne’s nineteenth-century American novel, The Scarlet Letter, and Arthur Miller’s mid-twentieth-century play, The Crucible. We will view a film documentary on the Salem Witch Trials as well as film adaptations of Hawthorne's and Miller's works. We will explore 20th century responses to World War II by analyzing the new edition of Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl and Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir, Night, alongside Agnieszka Holland’s film "Europa, Europa." We will further contextualize the images of "saints and sinners" by discussing Graham Greene's novel, The End of the Affair, and viewing film adaptations. We will analyze contemporary American spiritual and religious traditions by analyzing Ruolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, Finally, we will explore the meanings of "saint" and "sinner" as reflected in linkages between today’s contemplative writing and social movements. Each course participant will generate and develop a semester-long individual project that explores a particular aspect of the course theme of "Saints and Sinners." Finally, during the last week of class, each participant will present the results of his or her project to the entire class, using an interactive, experiential format. Note: this three-credit course is intended to be challenging; it will call for a good deal of reading and film viewing, followed by discussion. Required texts: Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter (Dover edition) Recommended web sites: http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/ss-index.htm
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook3.html
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