Examines the early, radical alternative version of Christianity and Judaism based on mystical self-knowledge (gnosis), and the challenge it posed to orthodox views on such issues as authority, the role of women, wisdom and organizational structure.
The Dead Sea Scrolls provide an intriguing window into the development of early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. This course examines the texts, the communities which produced them, contemporary movements within Judaism and Christianity, and the major lines of interpretive controversy.
Explores the influence of digital technologies on particular aspects of the arts, popular culture, the internet as well as in venues where culture is archived such as universities and museums in North America and internationally. Critical analysis of these cultural practices is enriched with the development of a simple multimedia project. No technical knowledge expected […]
Traces the development, transmission, and translation of the Bible from early attempts to develop the canon to the construction of current English Bibles. Discusses figures that have helped shape the text, important translations, manuscript illuminations, and text-critical methodology.
This course takes a historical approach to writings produced in the second generation of the Jesus movements, including the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. The course begins with a discussion of the first-century Palestinian context for traditions about Jesus before turning to the ways Jesus was portrayed in the earliest narratives about him. […]
This course explores the literary, social and cultural context of the apostle Paul and the recipients of his letters while also considering the legacies of Paul after his death. The course begins with a study of Paul's own writings (seven letters written ca. 50-60 CE to Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world), through early biographical […]
Examines the history of the idea of Italy by studying the role of media in the evolution of Italian cultural and national identity from the Renaissance to the present. Course credit exclusions: AP/HUMA 3612 6.00, AP/IT 4775 6.00.
A study of the production of ideas of criminality in Western thought since 1850 to the present, within the context of the social, cultural, political economic and legal history of the modern age. Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 3210 6.00.
This course examines Greek myths of gods and heroes in their social, religious and historical contexts through close reading of primary texts and visual representations and through analysis of modern comparative, psychoanalytical and structuralist theories.
Examines Greek and Roman religious beliefs and practices from an interdisciplinary perspective. Special attention is given to four major approaches to the divine (ritual, myth, art and philosophy) and their integration with other aspects of society and culture.