Universität Wien
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080078 PS Case Study: Relics and Reliquiare in Byzantium: From their Origins to 1204 (2015W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 8 - Kunstgeschichte und Europäische Ethnologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 06.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 13.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 20.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 27.10. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 03.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 10.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 17.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 24.11. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 01.12. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 15.12. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 12.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 19.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20
  • Tuesday 26.01. 11:00 - 12:30 Seminarraum 2 d. Inst. f. Kunstgeschichte UniCampus Hof 9 3F-EG-20

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Relics, from the Latin word reliquiae meaning "remains" or "that which is left behind", have been - and continue to be - collected in different cultures throughout the world. Generally they serve as a material reminder of holy people or of places where miraculous events occurred and as a physical point of contact between the human and the divine. Within the Byzantine cultural sphere, relics appear in various roles across the social spectrum: some public, for protection of the State, legitimization of the emperor, verification of church buildings, the focus of religious rituals and as diplomatic gifts; and some very private as the destination of pilgrimage, objects sought out for bodily healing or worn as apotropaic amulets.
This course will provide a general introduction to Byzantine society and culture as revealed to us through textual sources and the material evidence of still extant Byzantine reliquaries, many of which have been completely removed from their original contexts for hundreds of years.

Assessment and permitted materials

1. Regular attendance (mandatory);
2. active participation in classroom discussions and the timely completion of short assignments (30%);
3. a 10 minute presentation including a handout (30%);
4. a research paper (approx. 15,000-20,000 characters) with citations and bibliography, due by 31 January 2016 (40%).
*Presentations and papers may be in German or English.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

As a Fallstudie II/III the main goal is to train academic investigation in the field of art history and to provide students with practice in presenting the results of their research coherently in both verbal and written forms.

Examination topics

Students will be asked to analyze critically secondary literature and excerpts from primary textual sources in translation. Methods relevant to the investigation of individual topics include formal analysis, iconography, stylistic and technical analysis, and condition, as well as methodological approaches stemming from archaeology, anthropology, theology, cultural and social history and gender studies.

Reading list

Reading knowledge of English is required. Reading assignments will be posted on the Moodle platform.

Introductory reading:
For the first class meeting on 6 October 2015 please prepare the three entries – "relics", "reliquary" and "pilgrimage" – from The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (ed. Alexander Kazhdan, Oxford 1991). A master copy can be found on the course reserve shelf in the Art History Library.

For your information:
1. On the relics and pilgrimages of the Russian Orthodox congregation in Vienna:
– http://austria-forum.org/af/Wissenssammlungen/Sakralbauten/Andere%20christliche%20Kirchen/Russisch-Orthod.%20Kathedrale%20St.%20Nikolaus (see especially the sections "Besondere Ikonen und ein Kreuzpartikel" and " Pilgerreisen")
– http://www.nikolsobor.org/SITE/index.php/de/news-de/gemeindenews/228-pilgerreise-nach-bari

2. On the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux traveling to Vienna in May 2015:
– http://www.erzdioezese-wien.at/site/home/nachrichten/article/42686.html

3. On the international tour of Buddhist relics, in Vienna on 18-20 September 2015:
– http://www.maitreyarelictour.com/calendar/
– http://www.gelugwien.at/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=219

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:31