2026 Edition

Course structure

Module 1
Texts and Contexts. Jewish and Christian Scriptures: Beyond the Concept of Canonicity

(coordinators: Laura Carnevale and Edmondo Lupieri)

  1. Methodological Issues and Bibliographical Suggestions
    (Laura Carnevale – Edmondo Lupieri | 1.5h)
  2. Historical Context. History of the Israelite/Jewish World Until the Exile Included
    (Caterina Moro | 1.5h)
  3. Historical Context. Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins
    (Dario Garribba | 1.5h)
  4. Historical Context. Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins
    (Luca Arcari | 1.5h)
  5. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Jewish Scriptures
    (Laura Carnevale – Edmondo Lupieri | 1.5)
  6. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Jewish Scriptures
    (Laura Carnevale – Edmondo Lupieri | 1.5)
  7. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Early Christian Scriptures. Paul and New Testament Epistolography
    (Giulio Mariotti |1.5h)
  8. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Early Christian Scriptures. Synoptic Gospels and Acts
    (Edmondo Lupieri |1.5h)
  9. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Early Christian Scriptures. John and Revelation
    (Luca Arcari |1.5h)
  10. The Texts. Canonical and Non-Canonical Early Christian Scriptures. Apocryphal New Testament
    (Vittorio Secco | 1.5h) 

__________

Module 2
Exegesis between Translations and Traditions

(coordinators: Luca Arcari and Anna Mambelli)

  1. Traditions, Translations, Exegesis.
    Traditions and Fluxes of Transmission in Ancient Judaism + The ‘Perfect’ Translation as an Anthropological Topic in the Epistle of Aristeas
    (Luca Arcari | 1.5h)
  2. Traditions, Translations, Exegesis.
    Traditions, Fluxes of Transmission and Translations in early Christian Writings
    (Dorota Hartman | 1.5h)
  3. The Greek Versions of the Bible between Translation, Revision, Rewriting, and Exegesis.
    The Greek Versions of the Bible in Ancient Judaism
    (Eberhard Bons, Daniela Scialabba | 1.5h)
  4. The Greek Versions of the Bible between Translation, Revision, Rewriting, and Exegesis.
    The Greek Versions of the Bible in Ancient Judaism
    (Anna Mambelli | 1.5h)
  5. The Greek Versions of the Bible between Translation, Revision, Rewriting, and Exegesis.
    The Greek Versions of the Bible in Ancient Judaism
    (Israel Kohl | 1.5h)
  6. The Greek Versions of the Bible between Translation, Revision, Rewriting, and Exegesis.
     Origen’s Hexapla: The Ancient Example of a Polyglot Bible
    (Antonio Cacciari | 1.5h)
  7. The Sheperd of Hermas and its Translations 
    (Emanuele Castelli | 1.5h)
  8. The Latin Versions of the Bible.
    The Latin Versions of the Bible: The ‘Vetus Latina’ and the Vulgate
    (Sincero Mantelli | 1.5h)
  9. The Coptic Versions of the Bible;
    t
    he Bible in the Nag Hammadi Manuscripts
    (Costanza Bianchi | 1.5h) + Guest Lecture: Reading and Translating the Writings of Nag Hammadi Today (Andrea AnneseDaniele Tripaldi | 1.5h)
  10. The Armenian Versions of the Bible;
    the Bible in Ancient Armenian Literature

    (Federico Alpi | 1.5h) 

__________

Module 3
From Lorenzo Valla to the Semantic Web

(coordinators: Laura Bigoni and Davide Dainese)

  1.  Philologia sacra et profana in Dialogue
    (Laura Bigoni | 1.5h)
  2. Erasmus and His Legacy
    (Antonio Gerace, 1.5h)
  3. Maimonides’ Exegesis in Spinoza
    (Myriam Silvera, 1.5h) 
  4. Confessionalization and Holy Scriptures. The Bible between the 16th and 17th Centuries
    (Wim François | 1.5h) 
  5. Reading the Bible in the Age of Reason: The Jewish Legacy between the 18th and 19th Centuries
    (Cristiana Facchini | 1.5h) 
  6. Theology, Linguistics, and Computing: Father Busa and His Legacy
    (Marco Passarotti | 1.5h) 
  7. Introduction to the Semantic Web
    (Valentina Pasqual | 1.5h) 
  8. Editing Texts Digitally: The TEI Initiative and Alternative Approaches
    (Paolo Monella | 1.5h) 
  9. Sacred Book and Sacred Library in the Digital Age
    (Fabio Cusimano | 1.5h) 
  10. Between Methodological Innovation and Textual Resilience: Studying Sacred Texts Today
    (Davide Dainese – Anna Mambelli | 1.5h)

__________

Module 4
Hermeneutics and Meanings

(coordinators: Eberhard Bons and Daniela Scialabba)

  1. “Do You Understand What You Are Reading?” (Acts 8:30):
    Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics. Understanding and Interpreting Biblical Texts

    (Eberhard Bons – Daniela Scialabba | 1.5h) 
  2. There Is Not Only One Bible – Diversity of Ancient Texts and Diversity of Interpretations. A Different Editions, Different Texts, Different Meanings
    (Hindy Najman | 1.5h)
  3. The Origins of Jewish and Christian Exegesis. From Qumran to Rabbinic Exegesis;
    Specific Features of Rabbinic Exegesis

    (Jonathan Ben Dov | 1.5h)
  4. The Origins of Jewish and Christian Exegesis. Currents of Patristic Exegesis
    (Alessandro Capone – Daniela Scardia | 1.5h) + Guest Lecture: Poetic Exegesis (Arianna Rotondo | 1.5h)
  5. There Is Not Only One Bible – Diversity of Ancient Texts and Diversity of Interpretations.
    The Usage of Different Bibles in the Various Christian Churches

    (Eberhard Bons – Daniela Scialabba | 1.5h)
  6. Does the Bible Lend Itself to Different Interpretations? Ancient and Medieval Exegesis.
    Medieval Readings of the Bible

    (Riccardo Saccenti | 1.5h)
  7. Does the Bible Lend Itself to Different Interpretations? Ancient and Medieval Exegesis.
    (Françoise Vinel | 1.5h)
  8. The Bible in Contemporary Controversies.
    Hermeneutics of the Book of Job
    (Manuela Consonni | 1.5h)
  9. The Bible in Contemporary Controversies.
    The Bible in Political Debates in the Middle East
    (Antonella Bellantuono | 1.5h)
  10. The Bible in Contemporary Controversies.
    The Bible in Political Debates in Russia
    (Marianna Napolitano | 1.5h)

__________

Module 5
War and Peace

(collective coordination by the scientific committee)

  1. Introduction
    (Alberto Melloni | 1.5h)
  2. Martyr: History of a Word, a Word in History
    (Edmondo Lupieri – Laura Bigoni | 1.5h)
  3. Bible
    (Jan Willem van Henten | 1.5h)
  4. Bible
    (Joseph Sievers | 1.5h)
  5. Second Temple Judaism
    (Giovanni Ibba | 1.5h)
  6. Ancient Christianity
    (Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli | 1.5h)
  7. Quran
    (Luca Patrizi | 1.5h)
  8. Islam
    (Giuseppe Cecere | 1.5h)
  9. China
    (Valentina Bottanelli | 1.5h)
  10. Japan
    (Chiara Ghidini | 1.5h)

Language Courses: 30h, weekly
Teachers: Laura Bigoni (Greek), Fabio Caruso (Latin), Giulio Mariotti (Biblical Hebrew), Eberhard Bons (Aramaic), Costanza Bianchi (Coptic)


Calendar

All time references are CEST time zone!

Friday 10:00-11:30 (Session 1), 11:30-12:00 (break), 12:00-13:30 (Session 2), 13:30-14:30 (lunch break), 14:30-16:00 (Session 3) + 16:30-18 guest lectures (optional, circa 1 for every module)

Saturday: 10:11-30 (Session 4), 11:30-12:00 (break), 12:00-13:30 (Session 5) + 15:00-16:30 guest lectures (optional, circa 1 for every module)

__________

January 23
Module 1, Sessions 1,2,3

January 24
Module 1, Sessions 4,5

February 6
Module 1, Sessions 6,7,8

February 7
Module 1, Sessions 9,10

February 20
Module 2, Sessions 1,2,3

February 21
Module 2, Sessions 4,5

March 6
Module 2, Sessions 6,7,8

March 7
Module 2, Sessions 9,10 + guest lecture

March 20
Module 3, Sessions 1,2,3

March 21
Module 3, Sessions 4,5

April 10
Module 3, Sessions 6,7,8

April 11
Module 3, Sessions 9,10

May 8
Module 4, Sessions 1,2,3

May 9
Module 4, Sessions 4,5

May 22
Module 4, Sessions 6,7,8

May 23
Module 4, Sessions 9,10 + guest lecture

June 5
Module 5, Sessions 1,2,3

June 6
Module 5, Sessions 4,5

June 19
Module 5, Sessions 6,7,8

June 20
Module 5, Sessions 9,10

__________

Language courses: online, once a week for the duration of the course.

Ancient Greek: Tuesdays, 7.00 PM – 8.30 PM
January 27 | February 3, 10, 17, 24 | March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | April 7, 14, 21, 28 | May 5, 12, 19, 26 | June 2, 9 (with optional catch-up lessons June 16, 23).

Latin: Tuesdays, 3.30 PM - 5.00 PM
January 27 | February 3, 10, 17, 24 | March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31| April 7, 14, 21, 28 | May 5, 12, 19, 26 | June 2, 9 (with optional catch-up classes June 16, 23).

Biblical Hebrew: Thursdays, 2.00 PM – 3.30 PM
January 23, 30 | February 5, 12, 19, 26 | March 5, 12, 19, 26 | April 9, 30 | May 7, 14, 21, 28 | June 4, 11, 18, 25.

Aramaic: Tuesdays 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
January 27 | February 3, 10, 17, 24 | March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31| April 7, 14, 21, 28 | May 5, 12, 19, 26 | June 2, 9 (with optional catch-up lessons June 16, 23).

Coptic: tbd