Arabic and Latin Reading Groups
Academic Year 2020-21
Prof. Richard C. Taylor
Philosophy Department, Marquette University, & member, DWMC, KU Leuven, Belgium
([email protected], [email protected])
In the 2020-21 academic year I am conducting three Medieval philosophy reading groups for students of Arabic or Latin or both. Participants may be at the beginning level (at least one year Classical Arabic or Latin needing exercise in grammar and reading) or intermediate level (reasonably strong Classical Arabic and/or Latin but needing exercise in reading philosophical texts). All three groups will work with interesting texts with significant philosophical content.
Since it is my intention to help you make serious progress, you will likely have to count on spending 3-5 or more hours preparation for reading group meetings. If you can make that sort of commitment and are interested in joining any of the groups, email me to get your name on my list of participants.
The Day and Time for meetings has been chose to avoid conflicts with work week classes and to permit participation by learners from the Americas, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
There are no fees but students who attend are expected to prepare appropriately in advance.
Day Groups 1 & 2: Saturdays Dates: 5 Sept - 21 Nov 2020; 30 Jan - 27 March 2021; Summer 2021 TBA
Group 3 5 Sept - 21 Nov & 27 Jan -25 March 2021 Saturdays, (March moved from Saturday to Thursdays 7:45-9:00 pm
All times are US Central Time (Chicago)
(Group 1) Beginning level Arabic 9-10:15: Slow reading of some interesting selected philosophical texts with attention to language grammar and structure. 60-75 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Arabic. Participating students should have completed study of Arabic roughly equivalent to what is found in Wheeler M. Thackston's An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic.
We are reading al-Farabi, On the Perfect State, using the text of Walzer.
Participants: See the Group 1 subfolder.
(Group 2) Beginning level Latin 10:30 - 11:45: Slow reading of some interesting philosophical texts from Aquinas with attention to language grammar and structure. 60-75 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Latin. Participating students should have completed study of Arabic roughly equivalent to what is found in Wheelock's Latin, 6th edition, Frederick M. Wheelock, revised by Richard A. LaFleur.
We are reading selections from Aquinas, Commentary on the Sentences.
Participants: See the Group 2 subfolder.
(Group 3) Intermediate Latin Saturdays 12:30-1:45; March moved to Thursdays 7:45 - 9:00 pm: Reading of key texts in Medieval Latin . 75-90 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences in Latin.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Latin. We begin at the beginning of Aquinas's Quaestiones Disputatae De Veritate and aim to finish it in this lifetime.
Participants: See the Group 3 subfolder.
These meetings take place online using Microsoft TEAMS. Students of these languages who wish to participate should contact: Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Marquette University & DWMC KULeuven. Emails: [email protected] or [email protected].
Organized by the Templeton funded project The Christian West and the Islamic East: Theology, Science, and Knowledge, the Aquinas and 'the Arabs' International Working Group (AAIWG), and the Marquette University Philosophy Department.
Since it is my intention to help you make serious progress, you will likely have to count on spending 3-5 or more hours preparation for reading group meetings. If you can make that sort of commitment and are interested in joining any of the groups, email me to get your name on my list of participants.
The Day and Time for meetings has been chose to avoid conflicts with work week classes and to permit participation by learners from the Americas, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
There are no fees but students who attend are expected to prepare appropriately in advance.
Day Groups 1 & 2: Saturdays Dates: 5 Sept - 21 Nov 2020; 30 Jan - 27 March 2021; Summer 2021 TBA
Group 3 5 Sept - 21 Nov & 27 Jan -25 March 2021 Saturdays, (March moved from Saturday to Thursdays 7:45-9:00 pm
All times are US Central Time (Chicago)
(Group 1) Beginning level Arabic 9-10:15: Slow reading of some interesting selected philosophical texts with attention to language grammar and structure. 60-75 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Arabic. Participating students should have completed study of Arabic roughly equivalent to what is found in Wheeler M. Thackston's An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic.
We are reading al-Farabi, On the Perfect State, using the text of Walzer.
Participants: See the Group 1 subfolder.
(Group 2) Beginning level Latin 10:30 - 11:45: Slow reading of some interesting philosophical texts from Aquinas with attention to language grammar and structure. 60-75 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Latin. Participating students should have completed study of Arabic roughly equivalent to what is found in Wheelock's Latin, 6th edition, Frederick M. Wheelock, revised by Richard A. LaFleur.
We are reading selections from Aquinas, Commentary on the Sentences.
Participants: See the Group 2 subfolder.
(Group 3) Intermediate Latin Saturdays 12:30-1:45; March moved to Thursdays 7:45 - 9:00 pm: Reading of key texts in Medieval Latin . 75-90 min. per week. Students are expected to prepare texts with translations and to be able to parse sentences in Latin.This may require 3 hours or more preparation depending on the student's skills with Latin. We begin at the beginning of Aquinas's Quaestiones Disputatae De Veritate and aim to finish it in this lifetime.
Participants: See the Group 3 subfolder.
These meetings take place online using Microsoft TEAMS. Students of these languages who wish to participate should contact: Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Marquette University & DWMC KULeuven. Emails: [email protected] or [email protected].
Organized by the Templeton funded project The Christian West and the Islamic East: Theology, Science, and Knowledge, the Aquinas and 'the Arabs' International Working Group (AAIWG), and the Marquette University Philosophy Department.