Listen to this morning's class, "Restoring Semikhah (1)," here.
Follow along with the sources here.
For further research:
1) Read Gerald Blidstein's "Maimonides on the Renewal of 'Semikha': Some Historical Perspective," here.
2) Read R. Yosef Zvi Rimon's detailed summary of the controversy here.
3) See R. Avraham Maimon's book Hidush HaSemikhah LeFi Da'at HaRambam here.
4) At one point we noted the irony of how a controversy of this nature emerged from the writings of HaRambam. For a broader discussion on that topic, read David Shatz's "Some Ironic Consequences of Maimonides' Rationalist Approach to the Messianc Age," here.