Professor Willard

The exchange of scholarly information and/or secondary research, usually in a small group setting.

This course is open to all honors students, but designed especially for those enrolled in ENGL / RELI 220B.

Illustration from the Book of Kells

The Access Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha (Oxford, 1999). ISBN 0195282175. $34.99 (Amazon $23.99).

Course content

The New Testament books are written in the Greek prose of everyday life in the ancient Roman Empire, a language spoken everywhere from Mesopotamia to Iberia. But some of the most memorable passages are either in Greek verse or in sentence structures that suggest they may have their origin in Hebrew verse. Through close study of short selected passages we may learn about the communities where the New Testament books were written – their hymns, their rituals, and their relationship to the Old Testament traditions.

Requirements

Active participation in class discussion and  a seminar paper on one or more examples of New Testament poetry.

Mid-term exam (25%). Poems in and inspired by the gospels

Personal report (25%). 1000 words on an assigned topic

Group report (25%). PowerPoint presentation on an assigned topic

Attendance, participation, and progress (25%)           

            Includes writing done in class

There will be fourteen meetings. Readings before the Spring Break will concentrate on passages in the Gospels and Epistles; readings after the break will emphasize the Book of Revelation.