29424 - Seminars (1) (LM) (Ind.)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the seminar, through contact with scholars or experts in different disciplinary fields, the student will know how to organise and collect complex information in a coherent form, and will be able to apply methods of critical analysis, preservation and enhancement of historical memory. He/she will know how to identify a research problem relevant to historical research and will be able to identify and make appropriate use of the sources of information needed to address it.

Course contents

The seminar, entitled "Texts and Manuscripts across the Greater India", will address the following topics:

Introduction to geographical, linguistic, religious and cultural macro-areas that had historical relevance across Central, South and Southeast Asia.

Introduction to the types of historical written artefacts (manuscripts, inscriptions, variously printed books), with a particular focus on their materials and forms.

Introduction to the idea of cosmopolitan languages and their identification in the areas in question (in particular, Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Tamil).

Case studies on the modes of transmission of texts:

-from orality to writing;

-from manuscripts to print;

-translations;

-canons and curricula (in particular in relation to their relationship to manuscripts)

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliographic material will be indicated during the seminar.

Teaching methods

Monday 11-13; Aula 1, Zamboni 33;
Thursday 17-19; Aula Celio, Zamboni 38;
Friday 13-15, Aula 1, Zamboni 33.

 

Frontal instruction and group discussions of relevant secondary literature.

The seminar will be held in English. This is aimed at offering to the students the possibility of engaging with the topics in question through the language that is by far the most relevant in the pertinent academic disciplines. The instructor will always be available to repeat or slow down when requested to do so. Students are encouraged to address the instructor and peers in English, but Italian is also allowed, in particular at the beginning of the seminar.

Assessment methods

Oral examination on one of the topics of the seminar previously agreed with the instructor, who will have recommended further readings.

The following aspects will be taken into consideration during the examination:

• knowledge of a specific topic/case study;
• critical approach;
• ability to communicate orally, in particular skills in synthesis and in logical organization of the topics and the mastery of an appropriate vocabulary.
  

This teaching activity does not include the usual mark out of thirty, but only a pass or fail assessment. Students who achieve a rating at least sufficient in the above criteria will obtain a pass assessment; students who do not reach a sufficiency rating in those same criteria will obtain a fail assessment.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Ciotti