LATN 361-001 / CATH 361: Augustine, Confessions Spring Semester 2012

Our work this term will have three central aims (plus the fourth, of having fun with them):

• To increase facility at reading Latin
• To assess critically current scholarly inquiry into Augustine, the Confessions, and Augustine's world
• To develop skills of research, critical thought, and scholarly presentation by pursuing investigation into questions arising from Augustine's Confessions

• Required: Augustine, Confessions, Books I-IV, ed. Gillian Clark (Cambridge UP 1995)
  • We may also make use of Augustine, Confessions: an electronic edition, ed. James J. O'Donnell, SGML encoding and HTML conversion by Anne Mahoney (on-line reprint of Oxford text and commentary 1992; for the Stoa Consortium 1999)
• Required: Gillian Clark, Augustine: the Confessions (Bristol Phoenix Press 2005)
• Required: a translation of Augustine, Confessions:
  • Henry Chadwick's (Oxford World's Classics 1991 and rpt.) is most scholars' preferred translation
  • R. S. Pine-Coffin's (Penguin Classics, 1961 and rpt.) is also excellent
  • Albert C. Outler's (Library of Christian Classics 1955) is on-line: either download .pdf or go to text online - click "read online" and follow links to individual books; respectively, these copies are provded by Augustine's website and Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Recommended: J. H. Allen et al., Allen & Greenough's New Latin Grammar (Dover Books 2006); e-text available through the Perseus Digital Library

• Augustine's web-page: nerve-center for teaching and research on Augustine on the Internet, including articles, bibliographies, texts, commentaries, images, records of an on-line seminar run in 1994 and 1995, and links to other off-site resources; edited by James J. O'Donnell, Provost of Georgetown University
• ORB - Late Antiquity: a division of the On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies focused on the period AD 284-632. A clearinghouse of on-line resources for the study of late antiquity, with links to other sites. Scholarly; edited and managed by Steven Muhlberger of Nipissing University.
• IAHS - Late Antiquity: part of the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, an index of on-line translations of primary sources, focused on "the end of antiquity" - some texts as early as the first and second centuries AD, but mostly third and fourth; the main site covers ancient history comprehensively. Scholarly compilation for teaching purposes, relying principally on older translations in the public domain; edited by Paul Hallsall, then of Fordham University where the Sourcebook is maintained, now of the University of North Florida.
• IMS - the End of the Classical World: part of the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, an index of on-line translations of primary sources, a few texts as early as the second and third centuries AD, but mainly focused on the fourth and fifth; the main collection is the largest of on-line medieval texts. Scholarly; edited by Paul Hallsall, then of Fordham University where the Sourcebook is maintained, now of the University of North Florida.
• Journal of Late Antiquity (access provided by Loyola University Chicago through Project Muse): a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary journal covering the world of Late Antiquity, broadly defined as the late Roman, western European, Byzantine, Sassanid, and Islamic worlds, ca. AD 250-800, i.e., the late and post-classical world up to the Carolingian period.
• Centre for Late Antique Religion & Culture: research center at Cardiff University.
• Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity: research center at the University of Oxford.
• Research News in Late Antiquity: blog.
• De Imperatoribus Romanis: an on-line encyclopedia of Roman emperors, including empresses, junior emperors, and ultimately non-successful claimants of imperial power - classical, later Roman, and Byzantine. Includes interlinked biographical articles with bibliography, imperial stemmata, the DIR/ORB Ancient and Medieval Atlas, and an index of select major battles. Scholarly, peer-edited; editorial boards currently under the presidency of Richard Weigel of Western Kentucky University (Classical through Later Roman Empire) and Lynda Garland of the University of New England, New South Wales (Byzantine).
• The Perseus Digital Library, collection of texts and images for the study of the Greek and Roman worlds, not excluding their late periods.
• Lacus Curtius, a staggeringly rich treasurehouse of on-line resources for Roman archaeology and topography (especially); compiled by Bill Thayer.
• After Augustine: a research project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, at the School of Classics at the University of St Andrews, dedicated to study of the reception of Augustine's work, 430-2000.

• Allen & Greenough is a good reference grammar on-line (also available in print, and a good thing to have on hand). Consult its sections on forms and syntax as often as the mood strikes you - they're always worth knowing. Scroll down the Table of Contents to which this link takes you, and click on the link for each item you wish to consult. Part of the Perseus Digital Library.
• Lewis & Short On-Line offers look-up access to a detailed reference dictionary. Type in the character string for which you wish to search (preferably, the dictionary-entry form of the word you want) and "submit query". Warning! This page was initially set up for people working with Greek, so many of its directions and responses will come to you in terms of Greek words and transliterations. Do not be alarmed! Your instructor will endeavor to help unsnarl any confusions: just ask. Another helpful part of the Perseus Digital Library.
• Nuntii Latini offers a weekly review of world news in Classical Latin. Produced by FYI, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, edited by Professor Emeritus Tuomo Pekkanen and Docent Reijo Pitkaranta of Helsinki University.
• latin.wunderground.com offers weather reports in Latin. Produced by The Weather Underground, Inc..

• SQ3R for Primary-Source Coursework: a method for effective studying
• Guide to Writing Academic Papers: a strategic checklist devised by your instructor (hint, hint)
• Guide to Beginning Research on Topics in Classical Studies: suggestions and resources
• Patrick Rael, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: a Guide for College Students (Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College 2004): developed by a historian of African American history and the American Antibellum/Civil War/Reconstruction periods, as the illustrations suggest, but applicable to our materials as well, and much more besides, at all stages of academic study
• Loyola Libraries' Subject Guide to Classical Studies, prepared by Classical Studies Bibliographer Jane Currie: a research guide to help identify and access core research resources relating to Classical Civilization, ancient Greek, or Latin.
• Oxford Bibliographies Online - Classics: annotated bibliographies compiled by leading scholars in the relevant fields, including a historical overview of our period (look under History, Roman: Late Antiquity), some of our major primary sources, and a couple of important cultural topics
• Loyola Writing Program's Statement of Grading Standards. It credits the Rhetoric Program of the University of Illinois at Urbana; other universities also observe similar criteria (e.g., this outline from Harvard University's Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning): these expectations are held widely.
• 1st edn. (1918) of William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style: print editions have been updated and it's well worth getting a copy if you don't own one already, but in whatever edition you use it, Strunk and White is the classic guide to desirable American prose style
• How to use apostrophes, or else.
• The the impotence of proofreading by Taylor Mali.

Academic Honesty, the Only Way to Go:

• For basic principles and definitions, see the subsection on "Academic Integrity" in the General Academic Standards and Regulations and the College of Arts and Sciences' Academic Integrity Statement. The Department of Classical Studies' Policy on Academic Integrity incorporates these documents. We also recommend you consult the helpful discussion of The Use and Misuse of Source Materials, provided by Loyola's Writing Center.
• Any practice of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, obstructing the work of other students, etc.) perpetrated in this course will result in failure of the course. Do not do it.
• Loyola University requires that all instances of academic dishonesty must be reported to the chairperson of the department involved and to the academic Dean of the student's College.
• Learning is wholly personal: it only happens if you do it yourself. Your University record should be certifying only what has really happened.

Additional University resources

• Loyola's Academic Advising and Support Services, on the Web and in the Sullivan Center for Student Services on the Lakeshore Campus, offer various pieces of advice as Academic Success Tools and will schedule workshops for practical assistance with things like study skills and test taking.
• Services for Students with Disabilities can help arrange accommodations for students who need that support.
• The Center for Tutoring & Academic Excellence (physically in the Sullivan Center; peer-counselors) and the Writing Centers (sponsored by the Department of English: graduate students with expertise in writing pedagogy; Sullivan Center 245 and on the Water Tower Campus in 25 East Pearson 605) both offer consultation services.

Revised 16 January 2012 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/