Summer 2018/Pasadena

LG567

Selby

LG567: THEOLOGICAL LATIN (4 Units: 160 Hours). Andrew Selby.

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DESCRIPTION: This course will provide students the opportunity to gain enough facility in Latin to read Classical, Biblical, Patristic, and Reformation Latin texts. If Hebrew and Greek are the languages of the Scriptures, Latin was the language of theological discourse in the western church for about 1,700 years. Thus, knowledge of Latin is essential for the advanced student of church history and theology. Not only that, Latin’s precise grammatical structures expressed through inflection sharpen minds in ways that enhance general theological reasoning. Due to its intensive nature, this course will demand a much more substantial time investment than students might anticipate for a four-unit course.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated the ability: (1) to parse and translate into English, with the aid of a dictionary, passages from Latin theological, historical, and literary texts; (2) to use numerous practical strategies to identify expediently the lexical form of any word they encounter in a text; (3) to employ their individual learning styles as they assimilate large amounts of new information; (4) to understand better theological terminology along with cultivating a greater appreciation for the English language’s indebtedness to Latin; (5) to assess the meaning of Latin passages for a general sense of the text in order to facilitate research in original sources; (6) to translate accurately into English passages of three to five hundred words from a Classical, Biblical, Catholic, or Reformed text in a reasonable timeframe with the aid of a dictionary.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets twice weekly for two and a half hour sessions for eight weeks for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture, demonstration, vocabulary and grammar drills, and extensive in-class reading, parsing, and translation.

REQUIRED READING: 530 pp. assigned.

Allen, J. H. and J. B. Greenough. Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar. Dover, 2006. ISBN: 978-0486448060, Pub. Price $20.95.

Moreland, Floyd L. and Rita M. Fleischer. Latin: An Intensive Course. University of California Press, 1977. ISBN: 978-0520031838, Pub. Price $41.95 [480 pp. assigned].

Morwood, James. Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0198610700, Pub. Price $21.95.

Course Reader [50 unedited pages Latin text assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Collins, John F. A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. Catholic University of America Press, 1985. ISBN: 978-0813206677, Pub. Price $24.95.

Goldman, Norma. English Grammar for Students of Latin: The Study Guide for Those Learning Latin. 3rd ed. Olivia and Hill Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0934034340, Pub. Price $19.95. Note: This text is particularly useful for students with little or no study of a second language.

Prior, Richard E., and Joseph Wohlberg. 501 Latin Verbs. Barrons, 2007. ISBN: 978-0764137426, Pub. Price $18.99.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 530 pp. of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6] [40 hours].
2. Brief daily quizzes on the prior week’s material (30% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #5, and #6] [40 hours].
3. Two exams to assess knowledge of paradigms, grammar, and translation skill (20% of grade) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #5, and #6] [10 hours].
4. Translation of one approximately 500-word Latin passage of the student’s choice with approval of instructor (20% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3, #4, #5, and #6] [15 hours].
5. Final open-book exam in class with one paragraph to be parsed and translated and another passage to be translated and summarized of a total length of two hours (30% of grade). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #5, and #6] [15 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. Audits permitted only with transcript evidence of prior study.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.

NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.