Programma Senior Seminar 2024/2025

Senior seminar 2024/25
Laurea Magistrale in Religioni Storie Culture
Università di Bologna

2 ottobre 2024, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Edmondo Lupieri, Loyola University Chicago

Maria Maddalena: una donna per tutte le stagioni

12 novembre 2024, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Ramon Teja, Universidad de Cantabria

L'incontro con la divinità di uomini e luoghi: la cristianizzazione degli spazi sacri greco-romani

4-15 novembre 2024, 8 ore totali, Aula Torresani, San Giovanni in Monte, 2

Michael Friedrich, Universität Hamburg (con Giovanni Ciotti)

Manucripts, Materials, Memory:

1. Taking the written artefact as starting point: Basic concepts of manuscript studies (12/11, 17.00-19.00h)

What is a manuscript? Already this seemingly naïve question has given rise to discussion. Using materials prepared at the CSMC and by myself, we will discuss this term as well as ‘written artefact’, ‘manuscriptology’, ‘manuscript culture’, the semiology of manuscripts as complex cultural signs, ‘book form’, ‘visual organisation’ and others. This conceptual exercise will involve a fundamental change of perspective leading to a fresh look at the ‘regional’ written artefacts each of us is working on.

2. Producing manuscripts: The meaning of materials and material features (13/11, 17.00-19.00h)

In some manuscript cultures, there is little choice when producing a manuscript, for there is only one type each available of writing support, writing material and writing instrument. But even here one may distinguish more or less carefully prepared writing surfaces and varying degrees of refinement in the execution of writing. These distinctions multiply once there are choices, for example between roll and codex or paper and parchment. In addition, one may discern differences in quality and quantity (how much ‘content’ does one writing surface contain?). Beside the meaning of material features per se, we will look into the handling of manuscripts as a cultural practice, leaving material traces that become part of the written artefact and thus embody memory.

3. Distinguishing functions of manuscripts: Beyond modern textual scholarship (14/11, 17.00-19.00h)

Contextualising manuscripts in their own history leads to the insight that transmission of texts is only one, albeit an increasingly important one, of their functions. The Buddhist tradition of copying sutras for generating merit is one case in point, production of textual amulets another one. We will discuss various additional cases and establish a typology of non-textual functions of manuscripts, mostly depending on their ‘content’.

4. Assessing the role of manuscripts in shaping collective memory; case study: East Asian calligraphy and modern authors’ autographs
(15/11, 17.00-19.00h)

Although distant in terms of time and space, two types of manuscripts in fact share many features, namely the East Asian tradition of the art writing (‘calligraphy’) and modern Western authors’ and composers’ autographs. In both cases, the traces of the individual hand are immediately understood as related to the person it belongs to. Thus, it becomes an artefact representing that person even after they have died, similar to a relic.

17 dicembre 2024, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Laura Carnevale, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro

Il sacrificio di Isacco

30 gennaio 2025, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Angela De Benedictis, Università di Bologna

A 500 anni dal Bauernkrieg

12 marzo 2025, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Francesca Badini, Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose – Biblioteca G. La Pira Palermo

Il Corano in Italia

9 maggio 2025, ore 9, aula San Giobbe degli Incurabili

Cristiana Facchini (Unibo), Miriam Benfatto (Unibo), Federico Dal Bo (Unimore)

Sguardi su Gesù alla luce della recente storiografia. Discussioni di Cristiana Facchini, Federico Dal Bo, Miriam Benfatto

Per informazioni: davide.dainese@unibo.it, cristiana.facchini@unibo.it