Università Roma Tre

Ancient Christian History LM (6 ECTS = 1 module of History of Christianity and Churches LM 12 ECTS (II module = Christianity and Globalization)

Motherhood in the Ancient Christian World

Motherhood is not merely an individual experience for a woman or something confined within the narrow confines of the family circle. In the ancient world, as in any era, it is profoundly influenced by the surrounding society and culture, becoming an institution that reflects ideologies and theological visions. This course, through the presentation of some significant Christian women who lived between ancient and medieval times, aims to explore various aspects of motherhood.
How do women narrate their experiences of motherhood?
What paradigms of motherhood are conveyed by sources that represent maternity?
What theological reflection on motherhood did Christianity develop between antiquity and the Middle Ages? How did the idea of spiritual motherhood emerge even in the absence of biological children? How are the ideals of virginity and motherhood reconciled? What role does the model of Mary play? How can the Church be considered a mother?
Attendance is not mandatory but strongly recommended: the instructor will also provide recorded lectures. During the course, methods of assessing proficiency will include interaction between the instructor and students, as well as the written elaboration (and possible in-class presentation) of a research paper.
II Module, Matteo mennini
LGBT believers and queer theologies in Christian churches from the 1960s to today

The sexual experience and conjugal life have represented the terrain on which the Christian churches have opposed the greatest resistance to the social and cultural transformations from the late modern age to the most recent processes of secularization. The question of the relationship between Christian faith and homosexuality, especially in the contemporary age, has triggered a lot of short circuits between the official positions of the Churches and those experiences that have favored the visibility and acceptance of LGBT believers signed by a new pastoral sensitivity and a theological thought attentive to accepting the requests coming from the social sciences and from the movements that claim full civil rights for homosexual people. In some Christian churches, at an official level, homosexuality was considered unnatural and out of the norm, an obstacle to the natural function of generation and to marriage. But the agency of LGBT Christian groups certifies the possibility of reconciliation with the institution and comes to the attention of the historian as a new religious subjectivity.
The course of study will address the topic by proposing a three-phase path: a) to offer a historical overview of the positions taken by the Christian Churches in the twentieth century on a global level on the question of homosexuality, in particular the Catholic and Protestant Churches; b) to analyze some pastoral experiences of groups and movements formed by LGBT Christians since the 1960s, especially in the United States, France and Italy, with the support of recent sociological studies; c) to follow the evolution of the so-called "queer theology", starting from the studies on the relationship between faith and homosexuality up to the most recent contributions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
For Attendees:
Compilation of texts and studies provided by the instructor
Written thesis on a topic of your choice

For Non-Attendees:
A book of your choice from the following options:

M. G. Muzzarelli, Madri. Madri mancate. Quasi madri. Sei storie medievali, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021
C.W. ATKINSON, The Oldest Vocation: Christian Motherhood in the medieval West, Cornell University Press, 1991
Sanctity and Motherhood. Essays on Holy Mothers in the Middle Ages, ed. by A.B. MULDER-BAKKER, New York-London, Routledge, 1995
R. Franchi (ed.), Dalla Grande Madre alla Madre: la maternità nel mondo classico e cristiano: miti e modelli, vol. 3. Dalla Bibbia ai Padri della Chiesa, Torino, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2019

The following contributions (contact carla.noce@uniroma3.it for a PDF copy):

E. Prinzivalli, Maternità e madri nel pensiero e nella prassi sociale del cristianesimo antico in Eastern Theological Journal 2 (2016) 2, 175–202
A. BARTOLOMEI ROMAGNOLI, Madri sante nella letteratura medioevale in La maternità spirituale nel cristianesimo antico, in Santa Monica nell’Urbe dalla Tarda antichità al Rinascimento. Storia, Agiografia, Arte. Atti del Convegno Ostia antica-Roma 29-30 settembre 2010, a cura di M. Chiabò, M. Gargano, R. Ronzani, Centro Culturale Agostiniano-Roma nel Rinascimento, Roma 2011, pp. 53-111

Notices

Non-attending students are invited to agree on the program with the professor.