University of Central Florida REL 3234 Roots of Western Mysticism

The purpose of this course is to outline the history of western mysticism from ancient times to about 1700. We will focus mainly on the Christian tradition, although Jewish and Islamic mysticism will be considered as well. We will focus on the primary texts themselves, and beginning there we may take any number of different directions, into (for instance) the history of philosophy, women's history, psychology of religion, politics and spirituality, and the history of theology. While doing this, we will also raise questions about the nature of mysticism itself.


Required Texts:

1. Julian of Norwich, Showings. Paulist Press, 1978. ISBN: 0-8091-2091-7
2. Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings. Penguin Books, 1994. ISBN: 0-140-43343-0
3. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul. Doubleday/Image Books, 1990. ISBN: 0-385-02930-6 (online version here)
4. Reserve Readings – in the library, available at the reserve desk and by e-reserve
5. Web-Based Readings

Requirements (subject to change - this is not official until the first day of classes)

There will be one annotated bibliography (20%), one intellectual biography (20%), one major (10-12 page) paper (30%), and a final exam (30%).

Readings: All readings must be done for the beginning of the week they are assigned. They are considered part of the course requirements, and you will be tested on them at the end of the course. Please bring the readings to class, as we will regularly be referring to them (and in most cases, working through them in class).

Intellectual Biography: (20%, due Sept. 21): Each person should choose one important figure in the history of mysticism (a figure can only be chosen once in this class - if you write on a person here, that person is ruled out for your major paper), and write a brief (1500 word) intellectual biography on him or her. By an "intellectual biography", I mean that you should outline the important features of an individual's thought or writings and link it to the person's life, society, theological vocation, intellectual influences, race, ethnicity, gender, or some other biographical feature. I am not looking for reductionism here ("this person's thought is caused by the society, gender, or whatever"), but I am looking to see if you have a clear sense of what was important to the writer in question, and can put it in context. It will be particularly important toidentify a central question to ask about this person. Answering the central question will allow you to interpret and understand the person's work or life. You will almost certainly have to deal with a figure that we have not yet discussed in class (given the due date for the assignment). Some students might be tempted to plagiarize this assignment, as there are some brief write-ups about mystics available. Please make sure you don't fall for that temptation - see me if you have any questions about how to do this assignment.

Annotated Bibliography\Literature Review: (20%, due Oct. 19) Each person will prepare an annotated bibliography of at least 20 items (more is fine, too). The bibliography must have a focus on a person, movement, concept, or issue within the history or philosophy of mysticism. By "annotated", I mean that you should provide a short (2-3 sentence) description of what the work is about, and how it is relevant to the theme of the bibliography. You will need to clear the focus of the bibliography with me. The intention is that this bibliography will support your major paper.

Major Paper: (prospectus + 30% paper. Prospectus due: Nov. 2; Paper due: Nov. 27. Paper length: 2500 words) I would like to see a critical analysis of some issue in the philosophy of mysticism. You can focus on an issue in a particular thinker's work (e.g., the notion of non-being in Eckhart), or you can consider the issue in itself (e.g., to what extent is Katz's contextualism an adequate way of understanding mystical experience?). You may also consider a thinker not addressed in this course, as long as that thinker has something interesting to say about a relevant issue. I can suggest possible topics, for those that need some ideas. NOTE: I am looking for more than just an account of a theory. I would like to see that you've thought it through, and can interact with the thinker or the position. Topics will be suggested in class or here on the website, but you are encouraged to come up with a topic yourself.

IMPORTANT: FOR ALL PAPERS, SEE "THE FINE PRINT" AT THE END OF THIS SYLLABUS

Final Exam: (30%) Scheduled for Dec. 7, 10 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. in the course room.

Grade Distribution: I will record the assignment grades based on the percentage of the course grade during the term (for example, an assignment will be recorded as a grade out of 20 if it is worth 20% of the course grade, although it may be marked out of another number). The letter grade will be calculated only at the end of the course, based on full course grade. The distribution will be as follows:

Schedule: Roots of Western Mysticism

For reading schedule, see the course home page at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/courses/rel3234/

Week 1: Aug. 21-25

Introduction; Theories and History of Mystical Experience.

Week 2: Aug. 28-Sept. 1

Early Mysticism; Greece and Jerusalem; Plotinus; Augustine.

Week 3: Sept. 4-8

Early Christian Theology: The Roots of Catholic and Orthodox Mysticism. Cappadocians, Pseudo-Dionysius, John Scotus Eriugena.

Week 4: Sept. 11-15

Mediaeval Mysticism: Monasticism, Hildegard of Bingen.

Week 5: Sept. 18-22

Love Mysticism: Bernard of Clairvaux, Mechthild of Magdeburg. Intellectual Biography Due Sept. 21.

Week 6: Sept. 25-29

The Roots of Esoteric Traditions: Jewish Mysticism, Gnosticism.

Week 7: Oct. 2-6

Mediaeval English Mysticism: Julian of Norwich.

Week 8: Oct. 9-13

Mediaeval English Mysticism: Julian of Norwich.

Week 9: Oct. 16-20

Speculative Mysticism: Meister Eckhart. Annotated Bibliography Due Oct. 19.

Week 10: Oct. 23-27

Speculative Mysticism: Meister Eckhart.

Week 11: Oct. 30-Nov. 3

The Roots of Protestant Mysticism: Eckhart, Suso, Tauler, Theologica Germanica, Martin Luther. Prospectus Due: Nov. 2.

Week 12: Nov. 6-10

The Beginnings of Protestant Mysticism: Jacob Boehme, Silesius.

Week 13: Nov. 13-17

Spanish Mysticism: Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross.

Week 14: Nov. 20-24

Mysticism after early modernism; Epilogue: Why Studying Mysticism is a Really Bad Idea.

Week 15: Nov. 27-Dec. 1

Review; Final Paper Due Nov. 27

The Fine (but Important) Print