Corso di laurea magistrale in Scienze delle religioni

The course will delv into the fundamental concepts of the history of religions with the objective to provide the necessary tools for the historical and critical analysis of religious phenomena. The classes will offer an in-depth analysis of a selection of texts placed in their context of production, and a theoretical and methodological reflection of the discipline.

• Knowledge and understanding: identifying and assessing the problems and methods of the history of religions, and the historical contexts of the sources and authors analyzed
• Applying knowledge and understanding: reading, understanding and interpreting a document in the light of its historical context of production
• Judgment autonomy: applying an appropriate method of analysis to documents, situating the authors in the historiographical debate, and asking appropriate questions related to course issues
• Communicative skills: using the scientific terminology and being able to produce historically appropriate arguments
• Learning skills: attaining the necessary tools of analysis for the historical and critical study of religions.

The “Last Pagans” in Late Antiquity

The course will offer a critical analysis of polytheistic ritual practices documented in the regions of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity. Through the analysis of ancient sources, the course will explore the rituals and discourses held by those who worshipped the traditional deities of the ancient world in an era of a slow but progressive institutional Christianization of the Empire. Critical attention will be placed particularly on the role of sacrifices and mystery cults in the fourth and fifth centuries CE. This analysis will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the creation of the notions of “pagan” and “paganism” and their reception in later centuries.

36-hour course for 6 weeks, 3 days per week for 2 hours each session (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday).

The course will be offered in the first part of the second semester. 

All classes will be held in-person.

For non-attending students, some lectures for exam preparation can be conducted if needed.

The final examination will be an oral exam. It will focus on the topics covered in the course and the volume listed in the bibliography. It will assess the understanding of the course’s materials and the student’s critical autonomy, language property, and argumentative ability.

The evaluation of the exams is expressed in thirtieths.

Students who achieve an independent vision of the themes explored in class, combined with good critical capacity, a command of expression using precise language, will be assessed with a very good or excellent grade (28–30 and honours); a primarily mnemonic or somewhat under developed acquisition of the contents of the course, with a linguistic and logical competence which is not always adequate will be valued with a grade from fair (21–24) to good (25–27); a minimal level of understanding of the contents of the course, combined with gaps in training or inadequate linguistic and logical competence, will earn a sufficient grade (18–20); the absence of the minimal level of understanding of the course contents, combined with inadequate linguistic and logical competencies and with training gaps, will produce an insufficient grade (<18/30).

For attending students, the exam will cover the topics discussed in the classes and the book by Philippe Borgeaud, Francesca Prescendi (eds), Religioni antiche. Un’introduzione comparata, edizione italiana a cura di Daniela Bonanno e Gabriella Pironti, Roma, Carocci, 2011.

For non-attending students, the exam will be based on the following books:

• Philippe Borgeaud, Francesca Prescendi (a cura di), Religioni antiche. Un’introduzione comparata, edizione italiana a cura di Daniela Bonanno e Gabriella Pironti, Roma, Carocci, 2011
• Bonnet, L, Bricault, Divinità in viaggio. Culti e miti in movimento nel Mediterraneo antico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021.