JCU and University of Naples “L’Orientale” Launch Partnership for MA in International Affairs with Lecture by Rector Tottoli
On September 19th, John Cabot University celebrated its newly forged partnership with the University of Naples “L’Orientale” to establish a new Master/Laurea Magistrale (MA/LM) Double Degree in International Affairs with a keynote lecture by Professor Roberto Tottoli, Rector of L’Orientale. The agreement offers students the possibility to earn both a Master’s degree (MA) in International Affairs from John Cabot University and a Laurea Magistrale (LM) in Relations and Institutions of Asia and Africa from the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. The JCU MA provides all the training and skills to lead a successful career in global affairs by taking advantage of the multicultural setting of both the University and the city of Rome.
Professor Tottoli’s Presentation: The Qur’an in Europe
Professor Tottoli is an internationally renowned scholar of Islamic studies and literature. He became Rector of L’Orientale in 2020 and he is a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino. He presented his recent research in a talk titled, “The Qur’an in Europe, a European Qur’an: Translating Islamic Scripture in Europe.” Following an introduction by President Franco Pavoncello, Professor Tottoli traced the history of the translation of the Qur’an in the West from the Middle Ages to the present day and outlined how translations coincided with the West’s understanding of Islam and its aims in utilizing the Qur’an for different purposes.
The first translation, dating back to the 12th century, was commissioned by Peter the Venerable and completed by Robert of Ketton, and was part of the Corpus Cluniacense. The purpose was to encourage Muslims to convert to Christianity. This translation raised considerable Western interest in the figure of the Prophet Muhammad.
Over the course of subsequent centuries, translations by Spanish scholars such as Mark of Toledo and Juan de Segovia, and by the Italians Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada and Giles of Viterbo, developed different ways of interpreting the Qur’an and sparked a debate about the importance of maintaining a literal approach to the original text.
Qur’an translations also played a significant role during the Reformation. In fact, they were used to draw a parallel between Islam and Catholicism and the flaws inherent in both, thereby urging the need to reform the Roman Catholic Church.
While the early hand-written translations proved to be generally accurate, one of the challenges experienced by scholars well into the 17th century was the poor quality of the characters used in printing presses, especially when made of wood. Translations by the Venetian Alessandro Paganini and the German Johan Zechendorff, respectively in the 16th and 17th centuries, were highly criticized for this reason.
An exception to this is Ludovico Marracci’s 1698 translation, which Tottoli considers a “pinnacle of translation efforts” for that time. The original manuscript had been lost but, during a trip to Toronto’s National Library, Tottoli identified the manuscript as Marracci’s original, and has since studied it extensivelyTranslations in the 18th and 19th centuries were primarily into English and French, thereby reflecting the colonial interests of France and the British Empire in Islamic territories. Italy produced its first translation in 1914.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, an increasing number of translations by Muslim translators emerged. These were greatly facilitated by India’s role in commissioning and distributing literary works and studies by Muslim scholars.
International Affairs MA Partnership Between JCU and L’Orientale
Following the talk and a discussion with the students and scholars gathered for the event, Pavoncello and Tottoli cut a cake bearing the logos of John Cabot and the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and toasted with the audience to the success of this new and exciting partnership.
Learn more about the Double Degree program.
(Emiliano De Angelis)
