Seminar, three hours. Designed for College Honors students. Historical overview of literary, philosophical, and theological writings on asceticism, with particular attention to late antiquity and medieval periods. Study of asceticism from desert fathers to medieval female mystics, Weber on Protestantism, Nietzsche on ascetic ideal, and Foucault on ancient "askesis." Literary readings include selections from Flaubert, Melville, Kafka, Eliot, and Weil. P/NP or letter grading.