SFS 520 FRANCIS: HIS LIFE AND CHARISM 2 Credits Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D. MTWRF 9-11:40 Office Hours : By appointment (my email is bensonj@cua.ed). I will have access to this account at all times during our two weeks. NB: I have adopted this syllabus from a prior one by Mary Meany. Course Description: This course will provide an introduction to the life and times of Francis of Assisi. It will also examine his distinctive spiritual vision as well as his impact on the medieval Church through the vast movement of evangelical renewal initiated by him. Based on his writings and early as well as significant modern biographies, this course is designed to meet the needs of the beginning student in Franciscan studies. The focus is on developing skills for independent reading in the early sources. Note, although SFS 520 is a graduate course, it is not a course listed within the curriculum of the Master s or Advanced Graduate Certificate programs. It is classified as a General Orientation course, intended for students with little or no background in Franciscan studies. Students interested in pursuing a degree or certificate program in the School of Franciscan Studies should confer with the Director of the Franciscan Institute. Goals and Objectives: Goal 1: Students will utilize a structured reading strategy in order to learn to read in a critical manner selected Franciscan sources. Objective 1: Students will analyze what the writings of Francis and his contemporaries reveal about the man and his movement in relation to the hagiographical testimonies; Objective 2: Students will investigate the image of Francis as depicted in selected visual representations of the saint; Objective 3: Having studied the content of the sources, students will identify and compare their own initial assumptions about Francis and his movement. Goal 2: Students will become familiar with the life and times of Francis of Assisi through the use of medieval sources available in English translation. Objective 1: Students will use selected writings of Francis to identify the distinguishing elements of Francis and his movement; Objective 2: Students will examine and compare selected testimonies about Francis by writers contemporaneous to the founder; Objective 3: Students will explore examples of medieval hagiographical writing about Francis that provide different ways of understanding and interpreting the meaning of Francis. Objective 4: Students will examine selected visual representations of Francis as another kind of interpretive source.
Goal 3: Students will articulate their understanding of Francis as he has been mediated through the sources. Objective 1: Students will demonstrate their analysis and assessment of the texts by contributing to the daily class discussions and through and individual interview with the professor; Objective 2: Near the conclusion of the course, students will choose a text from the sources and write a paper demonstrating their understanding of the image of Francis presented therein and the reasons for that particular image. RATIONALE: In this course we explore the life of St. Francis by putting him in the context of medieval Christendom, that is, in the Church and Society which formed him, and which he challenged and re-formed. We also explore his charism, that is, his ongoing significance for society, the Church, and the Franciscan Movement. Our goal is to get outside our own assumptions so that Francis can challenge us on his own terms. We are going to use two strategies in this course: we are going to explore the early documents, and we are going to develop our own ability to read those documents critically. These strategies are the objectives of the course. The first strategy will require us to look at three sets of documents in order to recover what Francis himself said, and what his contemporaries thought of him. First, we shall read many of Francis own writings. Second, we shall read related documents from his contemporaries, including papal documents. Third, we shall read selections from the hagiographic sources. In addition to these three sets of texts, we shall examine visual responses to the importance of Francis. You will demonstrate your use of the first strategy by your participation in class discussion, and in your individual discussions with me. The second strategy will require you to read a selection from the early documents. You will demonstrate your mastery of this strategy by writing a paper on the text you select, following the pattern I shall give you. REQUIREMENTS: Active Attendance: 65% Participation in class*, including: Active involvement in class, one or more meetings with me outside of class to discuss the early documents and your independent paper.** Paper due July 7, 2013 35% Late papers: due Aug. 1, 2013*** * If English is not your first language, please see me on June 24. ** These are minimal requirements. If you want to meet more often, we can do that. I would also encourage group discussions outside of class. ***E-mail me late papers in WORD at bensonj@cua.edu REQUIRED TEXTS (i.e. BUY THESE) St. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Vol. 1: The Saint, eds. Armstrong, Regis, Wayne Hellmann, and William Short (New York: New City, 1999). St. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Vol. 2: The Founder, eds. Armstrong, Regis, Wayne Hellmann, and William Short (New York: New City, 2000).
Thomas of Celano, The Rediscovered Life of St. Francis of Assisi, ed. Jacques Dalarun and trans. Timothy J. Johnson (St. Bonaventure: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2016). RECOMMENDED TEXTS (i.e. consider buying them) Letters and Prayers, eds. Michael Blastic, Jay Hammond, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, Studies in Early Franciscan Sources Volume 1 (St. Bonaventure: Franciscan Institute Publications, (2011). Rules, Testament and Admonitions, Eds. Michael Blastic, Jay Hammond, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, Studies in Early Franciscan Sources Volume 2 (St. Bonaventure: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011). Augustine Thompson, Francis of Assisi, A New Biography (Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2012). André Vauchez, Francis of Assisi, The Life and After Life of a Medieval Saint, trans. Michael F. Cusato (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012). DESCRIPTION OF PAPER DUE July 7, 2017 Late date Aug. 1, 2017 (Late papers must be sent as a WORD attachment to bensonj@cua.edu) Purpose: to use the approach we are using on texts we read together on a text you read independently in order to develop your ability to read the early documents critically, and to respond to them in an intelligent, useful manner. Process: this is the approach we shall use together, and the approach you are to use on the text you use independently. This is the process you should go through as you prepare your paper. Step 1: Choose a text from the early documents. Familiarize yourself with the text, and select a portion of it to study carefully and write about. We shall incorporate some artistic presentations of Francis, and that is another possibility for your independent paper. Step 2: Set the historical context. Use the General Introduction and the introductory essays, as well as the notes, from Francis of Assisi: the Early Documents and other resources like the texts mentioned under recommended texts in this syllabus. Note the author, the time and circumstances when the text was composed, the reasons for which it was written and circulated, the reception it had and has. (Do not be distracted by the mss. traditions, but do notice that complications about the mss. sometimes affect the reception the text has had.) Step 3: Read the text very carefully. Then prepare an outline of the text that pays close attention to the structure and main ideas of the original text. You do not need to use quotes unless there is a particularly significant phrase you need to comment on. Step 4: Analyze the text: consider the literary genre and how the text is developed; consider what themes the author stresses; compare to other writings in the early documents or other medieval (even patristic) sources. Step 5: Respond to this text. Consider what is attractive, useful, interesting; what is problematic, difficult. You might consider how you might use this text in introducing others to Francis. You may simply write about your own appropriation of the text, but I do not require you to tell me more than you want to about your own reading. Do not focus on your emotional response; focus on the meaning of the text. Presentation Write a paper of about six to ten double-spaced pages. Use standard margins and font. (One page is about 250 words.)
Use either a. MLA format, with endnotes. Use MLA format for list of sources. (This is user-friendly and increasingly often required by academic journals.) b. University of Chicago format, with footnotes. Use U of C format for bibliography. (This is the traditional academic format often required in graduate school.) Provide a title page. Staple in upper left corner. BEFORE CLASS STARTS, it might be helpful to: 1. Prepare to discuss presentations of Francis from the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Think about books, films, videos, or whatever presentations you are familiar with. Think about visual images of Francis or of Franciscan themes. We shall begin discussing these in the first class, but the discussion will continue. 2. Take some time to look at the Early Documents collections. 3. There is a lot of reading in this course. You may want to do some of it ahead of time, but leave yourself time during the week to review. DAILY SCHEDULE (All these daily readings are from FA:ED. We discuss readings on the date where they are listed, so READ in the syllabus means that you should read the assigned text before class.) WEEK 1 Introductions M June 26 DISCUSS: Modern/Contemporary scholarship on Francis; Survey of Francis of Assisi Early Documents READ from Francis FA:ED I, 124-127, 166-167; from Gregory IX, Mira circa nos, FA:ED I, 565-569. Contexts T June 27 DISCUSS Francis s Life and Medieval Context READ from Francis, FA:ED I, 40-62; from Jacques De Vitry, FA:ED I, 578-585 Letter W June 28 DISCUSS The Rule READ The Earlier Rule, and The Later Rule, FA:ED I, 63-86; 99-106. Spirit R June 29 DISCUSS The Spirit of the Life / The Spirituality of St. Francis READ from Francis FA:ED I, 108-123; 128-165. An Official Life F June 30 DISCUSS Hagiography as Theology, as History READ Thomas of Celano, The Life of Saint Francis, FA:ED I, 180-297 (or as much as you can; start it earlier in the week or before you come) Discussion of this text will flow into July 3.
Week II Two Portraits M July 3 READ Thomas of Celano, The Rediscovered Life; The Sacred Exchange FA:ED I, 523-554. After Celano T July 4 READ The Anonymous of Perugia, FA:ED II, 31-58; The Legend of the Three Companions, 61-110. Bonaventure W July 5 READ The Major Legend, FA:ED II, 525-611. R July 6 READ The Major Legend, FA:ED II, 612-683. Summary F July 7