H-Net Discussion Networks - FW: Course on the history of Christianity and sexuality

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From: Nancy Partner [mailto:nancy.partner@mcgill.ca]
List Editor: Hera Cook <h.cook@BHAM.AC.UK>
Editor's Subject: FW: Course on the history of Christianity and sexuality
Author's Subject: FW: Course on the history of Christianity and sexuality
Date Written: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:18:38 +0100
Date Posted: Wed, 23 Oct 2012 03:18:38 -0400

Sent: 22 October 2012 14:16

	John Boswell's work on Same-Sex Unions cannot merely be offered to
non-specialists as representing one facet of the scholarly debates around a
topic in the history of sexuality. His book was based on texts that require
specialist understanding, deep context, and a very thorough knowledge of arcane
subjects like liturgical conventions. Unlike his meticulous handling of
medieval literature in his first book, and subsequent articles, his late work
was unworthy of his own standards. Students should not be given bad scholarship
as if it were equal to sound work, and told that all scholarship is, you know,
"historically situated" and "point of view."

	Very strong and rigorous scholarship has created the field of history of
sexuality in antiquity and the middle ages, a field notable for its high
entrance credentials and exacting treatment of texts. It is very important to
maintain this intellectual level, not weaken it for polemical reasons.

	NP

Professor Nancy Partner
Department of History
McGill University
nancy.partner@mcgill.ca

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