Universität Wien
Warning! The directory is not yet complete and will be amended until the beginning of the term.

010057 VO Becoming God: Deification from Antiquity to the Present (2022S)

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 1 - Katholische Theologie
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).
Register/Deregister for this course

Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 02.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 09.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 23.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 30.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 27.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 04.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 11.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 18.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 1 (Kath) Schenkenstraße EG
  • Wednesday 25.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 01.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 08.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 15.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 22.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Seminarraum 9, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Aim:
The aim is to introduce students to the academic study of religion and to the main beliefs and practices associated with the ideas of deification of humans. The course will cover various examples, ancient and modern, of deified individuals.
Students will:
• acquire knowledge of what constitutes ‘deification’, and how can be studied in a comparative context;
• acquire knowledge of the different myths, stories, and ritual deification practices of different cultures, across time and space; will identify the different and complex nature of the deification traditions; and will be able to compare this vivid religious and political institution from antiquity to the modern times.
Description:
Deification, or apotheosis, is a very popular phenomenon across many cultures and traditions. Human history is replete with examples of deified individuals either as a result of their power or due to some special abilities. The course will examine certain examples from different cultural contexts, including posthumous deification and self-deification of individuals, in an array of ancient and modern understandings of the phenomenon: from Ancient Greece and Rome to Jesus Christ, and from the Japanese Emperor to Hollywood stars, popular singers, and athletes. Particular emphasis will be placed on the blurry lines between the notion of divinity and humanity.
Method:
Lectures with visual and textual material in English.

Assessment and permitted materials

For students to pass the course they will need to answer correctly at least 50% to each question asked. Failing to achieve the required threshold will result in failing the exam.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
(Beurteilungskriterien) und der Beurteilungsmaßstab (nach Maßgabe von § 59 Abs. 6 UG).
Oral exam (in English).

Examination topics

Examination topics:
Lecture content.

Reading list

Reading list
(1) Litwa, M. David. 2012. We are Being Transformed: Deification in Paul’s Soteriology. Berlin: de Gruyter.
(2) Ory Amitay. 2010. From Alexander to Jesus. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
(3) Nickolas P. Roubekas. 2017. An Ancient Theory of Religion: Euhemerism from Antiquity to the Present. London & New York: Routledge.
(4) Spencer Cole. 2006. “Cicero, Ennius, and the Concept of Apotheosis at Rome,” Arethusa 39.3: 531-548.
(5) Francis Oakley. 2006. Kingship: The Politics of Enchantment. Malden, MA & Oxford: Blackwell.
(6) Tamás Dávid-Barrett and James Carney. 2016. “The deification of historical figures and the emergence of priesthoods as a solution to a network coordination problem,” Religion, Brain & Behavior 6.4: 307-317.

Association in the course directory

066 800 M3, M16; 066 795 M2b Vorlesung zur Vergleichend-Systematischen Religionswissenschaft

Last modified: Th 02.02.2023 12:28