Module THEO3671: Religious Difference in the Reformation World

Department: Theology and Religion

THEO3671: Religious Difference in the Reformation World

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

Aims

• To introduce students to the key features of Reformation research.
• To familiarize students with persecution and toleration in the early modern era.
• To familiarize students with essentials of the history of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
• To hone students’ skills in the close reading of and critical engagement with primary texts.
• To hone students' skills in assessing the critical interplay between theology and history.

Content

• This module would take a thematic approach to understanding religious plurality in Europe and beyond from roughly 1500-1700 to discover how European governments and individual citizens/subjects alike suppressed threats to religious order and civil society. Beginning with religious dissenters in the late Middle Ages and ending with the toleration theories of Spinoza, Bayle, and Locke, we will investigate how attempts at repression were weathered by various groups who were either forced to conceal their religious beliefs and practices, go into exile, or face martyrdom. Students will study these developments cross-confessionally, engaging with a range of primary sources (including music, images, objects, and literature) to explore this era of persecution and its end in begrudging toleration. To chart the uneven pace and irregular trajectory of religious reform across Europe, this module will focus on the efforts of the ruling elite to control pious expression in their jurisdictions. Topics we will consider include: late medieval heresy, Renaissance humanism, ‘the other’ (Turks, Jews, and Witches), Anabaptists, the Roman Inquisition, and the origins of toleration. While traditionally understood to be ‘the age of religious violence’, in fact, violence is just one facet of the complex phenomenon of religious conflict in early modern Europe. In this module, students will learn about everyday experiences with the religious ‘other’, exile, dissimulation, and pre-Enlightenment origins of toleration, while also engaging with a variety of secondary sources that highlights how scholars approach these issues.

Learning Outcomes

• A systematic understanding and a coherent and detailed knowledge of tensions concerning religious difference, persecution, and toleration in late medieval and early modern Europe.
• A detailed knowledge of methodologies and approaches to the study of the European Reformation.
• A systematic understanding of how local developments were situated alongside wider cultural and intellectual currents in Europe and the world.
• A familiarity with the variety of primary sources available to scholars of the Reformation.

• Ability to read, interpret, and evaluate sources pertaining to the Reformation
• Ability to situate the origins of toleration in their historical context.
• Ability to understand and critically evaluate contemporary scholarship on early modern persecution and toleration.
• Ability to evaluate the theological issues at the root of religious violence or oppression.

• Skills in the acquisition and interpretation of information through close, nuanced reading of primary and secondary sources.
• Skills in the structured presentation of information in written and oral form.
• Skills in the conducting of research.
• Skills in thinking theologically and historically.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures convey information and exemplify an approach to the subject-matter, enabling students to develop a clear understanding of the subject and to improve their skills in listening and in evaluating information.
• Seminars enhance subject-specific knowledge and understanding both through preparation and through interaction with students and staff, promoting awareness of different viewpoints and approaches.
• Formative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.
• Summative essays develop subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the acquisition of information through reading and research, and in the structured presentation of information in written form.
• Examinations assess subject-specific knowledge and understanding, along with student skills in the structured presentation of information in written form under time constraints.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One seminar presentation and one 2,000 word essay

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University