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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Divinity : History of Christianity

Undergraduate Course: History of Christianity as a World Religion 1A (ECHS08005)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Divinity CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course aims to provide students with a comprehensive view of the global Christian movement in time and space. Considers the period from its Middle Eastern and European origins in theological and sociological/political terms to the Inquisition (50.CE to 1500)
Course description Academic Description:
This course looks at the origins and growth of Christianity in the Mediterranean world and beyond, from the first generation of Christians to the fall of Constantinople (50CE to 1453CE). The course will cover Christianity's role in and interaction with the various cultures of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the early and medieval Islamic states, and the emergent civilisations of medieval Europe, looking at persecution, education, mission, monasticism, piety, orthodoxy and heresy and other major themes. Tutorials will concentrate on looking in depth at original texts from the periods studied.

Syllabus/Outline Content:
The course is divided into three sections: Christianity in the Roman imperial period (before and after Constantine), Christianity in the Byzantine East and Eastern Europe, and Christianity in medieval Western Europe. In each period, we will look both at crisis events (e.g. the great theological controversies of Nicaea and Chalcedon, the Iconoclastic controversy, the Crusades from both Eastern and Western perspectives) and emerging cultural themes (e.g. Christian appropriation of classical culture; Christian dialogue with Islam).

Student Learning Experience Information:
This course offers students an extensive and rigorous account of the history of Christianity from the beginnings until 1453, serving as a comprehensive background to an understanding of Christianity's influence on Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and European culture in this period, as well as the cultures of North Africa, the Malabar Coast of India, Ethiopia, Armenia and Georgia. Students are expected to attend three one-hour lectures and one tutorial per week, and to participate in tutorials both by posting up comments on the weekly text in advance of the tutorial, and by contributing to the tutorial discussion. Students are advised that this is a rigorous course which covers a wide range of material, and that they need to be committed to attending lectures regularly and to keeping up with background reading if they want to do well.


Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Tutorial readings £5 (TBC)
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 33, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 150 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 20% Blog and comments;

20% 1000-word Early Christianity scholarship analysis task;

20% 1000-word Medieval or Byzantine Christianity scholarship analysis task;

40% 2000-word Medieval or Byzantine Christianity research essay.
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Resit Exam Diet (August)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the geography, culture and politics of Christianity from its first-century Middle Eastern origins to its various manifestations among European, Slavic and Oriental peoples by the mid-fifteenth century.
  2. Analyse and refer in argument to selected texts in English by and about Christians up to the fifteenth century as evidence for Christian culture, beliefs and politics in the period.
  3. Contribute to group discussion about these texts.
  4. Address a disputed scholarly question regarding a particular aspect of Christian history in this period, showing knowledge of more than one scholarly reading of the relevant evidence.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsHCWR1A
Contacts
Course organiserDr Sara Parvis
Tel: (0131 6)50 8907
Email: S.Parvis@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Jamie Smith
Tel: (0131 6)50 8913
Email: Jamie.L.Smith@ed.ac.uk
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