Exploration of the intertwined histories of religion and visual culture in the three Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) from antiquity to the present. Examination of themes from ancient iconography to contemporary reinterpretations of the sacred, asking: how do images, objects, and built environments shape religious experience and theological perspectives?

Exploration of the intertwined histories of religion and visual culture in the three Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) from antiquity to the present. Examination of themes from ancient iconography to contemporary reinterpretations of the sacred, asking: how do images, objects, and built environments shape religious experience and theological perspectives?

The major genres of Islamic literature and its principle concepts, covering Qur'anic, hadith, legal and political literature, philosophy, theology, historiography, hagiography, and poetry, emphasizing the Medieval period and mystical prose and poetry primarily in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. The works will be in English translation. A writing intensive course.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to do additional readings and submit a well-documented fifteen page research paper.

A survey of religious, intellectual, cultural, and social interactions between Christians and Muslims from late antiquity to the present, exploring forms of encounter, conflict, and cultural exchange — from the transmission of ancient knowledge and scholastic debates to humanist scholarship, imperial encounters, and contemporary interfaith dialogue.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will write a research paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the professor and will be responsible for delivering a presentation on a work of secondary literature in class.

A survey of religious, intellectual, cultural, and social interactions between Christians and Muslims from late antiquity to the present, exploring forms of encounter, conflict, and cultural exchange — from the transmission of ancient knowledge and scholastic debates to humanist scholarship, imperial encounters, and contemporary interfaith dialogue.

This interdisciplinary course explores the intersections of women, witchcraft, and waste in Africa, engaging with how gender, materiality, and the occult shape socio-political life across regions, focusing on issues of gender, power, environmental degradation, and the cultural construction of waste. It will address how discarded matter and supernatural beliefs influence economies, governance, and environmental practices, particularly in relation to women’s roles and experiences.

This interdisciplinary course explores the intersections of women, witchcraft, and waste in Africa, engaging with how gender, materiality, and the occult shape socio-political life across regions, focusing on issues of gender, power, environmental degradation, and the cultural construction of waste. It will address how discarded matter and supernatural beliefs influence economies, governance, and environmental practices, particularly in relation to women’s roles and experiences.

The first legal promulgations and lawcodes from ancient Mesopotamia and the Hittites to Exodus and Deuteronomy, Archaic Greece, and Egypt, and the origins of jurisprudence. What classes are regulated by what institutions? These are the traditions behind Western concepts of law, ultimately arising from ancient theologies.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate and law students will present, as though for a conference, a coherent set of provisions (e.g., sexual torts in the Middle Assyrian Laws) with an analysis of theories of compensation or punishment, in close reading. They will write a final paper addressing such a bloc, or principle, through lawcodes, case records, and narratives through canon law or into Greek and/or Roman traditions.

The first legal promulgations and lawcodes from ancient Mesopotamia and the Hittites to Exodus and Deuteronomy, Archaic Greece, and Egypt, and the origins of jurisprudence. What classes are regulated by what institutions? These are the traditions behind Western concepts of law, ultimately arising from ancient theologies.

In-depth reading of the Book of Genesis, containing some of the most famous and beloved passages in the whole Bible. We will address the sources of these stories, how they have been interpreted by different communities at different times, and how they have been foundational for the three Abrahamic religions.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will have the opportunity to read texts in the original language (Hebrew) if desired and write a research paper that more deeply explores the texts.