INTELLECTUAL HISTORY AND TEXTUAL PRACTICES (HEBREW)

L'insegnamento ricade tra gli insegnamenti caratterizzanti del curriculum del corso "Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea". I suoi obiettivi formativi rientrano nell'area di apprendimento delle competenze culturali e umanistiche.

Through the analysis of the Hebrew account of the first trial held by Christian authorities against the Talmud (Paris 1240) following the text of the Moscow manuscript, students will be introduced to main topics of religious polemics between Judaism and Christianity from late antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Communicating capabilities:
- capability to express and process the contents of the course and the topic of the papers in written form (in Italian or in English for non-Italian speaking students).

Learning capabilities:
- efficiently taking lecture notes in classroom;
- critically integrating different teaching materials (class notes, slides, handbooks, academic papers);
- independent, critical study of course-related topics not dealt in class;
- improving the student's capability to read and process materials in English.

Two years of study of Hebrew, both classical and modern (students lacking this prerequisite will be de facto unable to read the text).

The Wikkuah Rabbenu Yehi'el (Disputation of Our Rabbi Yehi'el): analysis of translation of the text according to MS. Moscow.

The transcription of the Hebrew text of the manuscript (still unpublished) will be available on the Moodle page of the .

Instructional tools:
1) G. Stemberger, "Introduzione all'ebraistica", transl. Morcelliana, Brescia 2013.
2) M. Pérez Fernández, "An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew", transl. Brill, Leiden/New York/Köln 1995.
3) M. Jastrow "A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature", Luzac/Putnam, London/New York 1903 (<http://www.tyndalearchive.com/TABS/Jastrow/index.htm> ;).
4) U. Eco, "Come si fa una tesi di laurea. Le materie umanistiche", Bompiani, Milano 1977 and reprints.

The final evaluation mark will depend on:
50 % - attendance to classes and participation to discussion in class;
50 % - evaluation and discussion of paper(s), considering in particular i) correctness of expression in Italian (or English) and ii) observance of the editorial rules explained in Eco's above-indicated handbook.

The list of suggested topics and bibliographies for papers will be made available to students via mailing list at the beginning of the teaching term. Papers are required i) to be in Word format (PDFs will not be evaluated), ii) not to exceed 30.000 characters (spaces included; front pages, summaries, and bibliographies are excluded from the count), and iii) to observe the editorial indications and rules for quoting bibliography explained in U. Eco's handbook. Papers may be submitted at any time during the academic year, regardless of the dates of the calls.

Students non attending classes are required to submit two papers.

written

17 FAIL
18-20 PASS Limited comprehension of notions, limited skill of exposition and reflection, no critical capacity
21-23 SATISFACTORY Sufficient comprehension of notions presented in an unclear and reflexive manner; difficulties in elaborating, and synthesizing ideas
24-26 GOOD Good comprehension of notions but limited capacity of exposition, reflection, and synthesis
27-28 VERY GOOD In-depth comprehension of notions that are presented in a clear and articulated manner; remarkable synthesizing capacity and critical reflection
29-30 VERY GOOD Broad and in-depth comprehension of notions that are presented in an articulated and sophisticated manner. Excellent ability in exposing ideas synthetically, and critical ability
30 CUM LAUDE EXCELLENT Broad and in-depth comprehension of notions showing an advanced knowledge of broader disciplinary and interdisciplinary debates, a mastery of academic language, and a capacity for original and critical thinking

Classroom lectures. The translation of the texts will be assigned as homework and checked in class.