Overview
The sixteenth century Reformation broke apart western Christianity. By focusing on powerful forces and intriguing personalities, this paper explores why and how that happened, and what it meant for the western world.
This paper provides students with the opportunity to go deep into a complex, interesting and surprising subject: the sixteenth-century Reformation. Students will gain insight into the ways in which the Reformation reflected the medieval world and helped to initiate the modern world, thus bringing perspective on present experience and developing critical thinking and research skills.
About this paper
| Paper title | The Reformation (Advanced) |
|---|---|
| Subject | Christian Thought and History |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2024, expected to be offered in 2025 (Distance learning) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $981.75 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 200-level CHTH or CHTX paper
- Restriction
- CHTH 206, CHTX 206, CHTX 306
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Theology
- Eligibility
- Any student can study Theology, whether they are of the Christian faith, another faith or of no religious faith at all. Theology is an examination of the scriptures, history, content and relevance of the Christian faith, but it presupposes or requires no Christian commitment from students. All it requires is an inquiring mind and an interest in those skills that can be gained through the study of any subject in the Humanities.
- Contact
- More information link
View more information on the Department of Theology's website
- Teaching staff
Lecturer: Dr Brett Knowles
- Paper Structure
- The paper is structured in four modules that guide students through the Reformation in four different and progressively deeper ways: an examination of the story of the Reformation in light of its medieval contexts; an exploration of its main centres of reformation and three of the main themes; and an assessment of what it all meant for the modern world. Students practise the skill of handling primary documents through close engagement with extensive historical evidence.
Assessment comprises a reflective online exercise (15%), an essay (20%), an oral presentation (15%) and an extended research essay (50%). - Teaching Arrangements
- Campus: A teaching day (3:30 pm - 9.00 pm) takes place in week two of the semester, which replaces all lectures in the first three weeks of the semester (except for the first lecture), followed by three lectures per week for the remainder of the semester.
Distance: A teaching day, three 1-hour videoconferences and two 2-hour videoconferences spaced throughout the semester. - Textbooks
Required textbook: Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations, 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
This textbook is available electronically through the University of Otago catalogue.- Course outline
- View the course outline for CHTH 306
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Lifelong learning, Communication, Critical thinking, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
When you successfully complete the paper at the 300 level you will:
- Have a good understanding of the history of the Reformation
- Be equipped to think critically about why it happened and what it represented
- Have developed depth of understanding and analysis in one particular form of reformation
- Have taken your skills in independent historical research to a more advanced level
- Be equipped to think reflectively and intentionally about the research process
- Have further enhanced your skills in oral presentation