Storied Women

In this course we will read and analyze stories about women in the Jewish Bible, its Greek translations, and the New Testament, using various historical, literary, and gendered approaches to the study of ancient texts. Though student interests will help determine the final list of the characters we will consider, contenders include Eve, Hagar, Rebekah, Tamar, Deborah, Ruth, Judith, Mary, the women of Paul’s letters, and Revelation’s great whore of Babylon. In addition to recent academic treatments of the stories, we will also consider some of the ways they have been retold through time and in contemporary literature and film. 3 hrs. sem.