A critical introduction to developments in social theory that have influenced the academic study of religion, including the classic contributions of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber as well as more recent debates in anthropology and cultural theory. Required of, and designed for, first- and second-year graduate students in religion; others must receive the instructor's permission to enroll.

A critical introduction to developments in social theory that have influenced the academic study of religion, including the classic contributions of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber as well as more recent debates in anthropology and cultural theory. Required of, and designed for, first- and second-year graduate students in religion; others must receive the instructor's permission to enroll.

A critical introduction to developments in social theory that have influenced the academic study of religion, including the classic contributions of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber as well as more recent debates in anthropology and cultural theory. Required of, and designed for, first- and second-year graduate students in religion; others must receive the instructor's permission to enroll.

The impact of twentieth-century philosophical ideas on the academic study of religion: naturalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, structuralism, Nietzschean genealogy, and American pragmatism, among other philosophical movements.

The impact of modern philosophical ideas on the academic study of religion: naturalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, genealogy, ideology, social construction, and epistemic injustice, among other philosophical movements, as well as the complex interplay between constructions of religion, race, and gender.

The impact of modern philosophical ideas on the academic study of religion: naturalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, genealogy, ideology, social construction, and epistemic injustice, among other philosophical movements, as well as the complex interplay between constructions of religion, race, and gender.

The impact of twentieth-century philosophical ideas on the academic study of religion: naturalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, structuralism, Nietzschean genealogy, and American pragmatism, among other philosophical movements.

Together we explore basic primary sources (especially Greek, some Latin or Coptic, reading mostly, for our purposes, in translation) of Ancient Mediterranean Religion c.100-400 CE, investigating how the early Jesus movement originated from and interacted with Jewish sources, writers and teachers, as well as classical ones, while spreading throughout the Roman empire, and how, in the fourth century, this unlikely movement morphed into "catholic church" endorsed by Roman imperial authority.

This seminar offers comprehensive survey of primary sources essential for research, general exams, future teaching. Some topics: strategies of group formation; how various Jewish and "pagan" critics characterize and interact with Jesus' followers; exploring NT sources and "secret gospels" to clarify issues that ignite creation of "orthodoxy"/"heresy"; controversies on authority/social/sexual practices; the politics of persecution; how Christians defied Roman authority in trial/martyr accounts. Finally, how did this unlikely movement morph into "the catholic church" in the 4th century, legitimized and transformed by Roman imperial authority?

This seminar focuses on basic primary sources, Greek, Latin, and Coptic, that offer evidence for the early history of Christianity (c. 90-430 C.E.) To allow for breadth of reading and to include participants with varied interests, one may read primarily in English, with reference to the original texts as necessary.

This seminar focuses on basic primary sources, Greek, Latin, and Coptic, that offer evidence for the early history of Christianity (c. 90-430 C.E.) To allow for breadth of reading and to include participants with varied interests, one may read primarily in English, with reference to the original texts as necessary.

How did women and men appear before the divine in late antiquity? And what did they wear in everyday life? This interdisciplinary seminar examines self-representation through dress, footwear, hairdo, and jewelry. Special attention is reserved for questions regarding religion and ritual. We study a wide range of sources, including literary and documentary texts (papyri, inscriptions), iconographic representations (mosaics, frescoes, sculpture), and archaeological finds (shoes, clothes). Students conduct research with these sources and relate them to modern theoretical works about dress and self-representation.

Ancient Antioch and Dura-Europos (in Syria) were characterized by religious diversity. Stunning mosaics, frescoes, and other archaeological evidence and a rich literary tradition help us to understand life in the cities. In this seminar, we join with students at Yale University to learn about the social and religious history and cultural heritage of these cities. Yale students travel to Princeton, and Princeton students travel to New Haven, to learn about the collections that each of our universities has. We engage in new research into historical reconstructions of Antioch and Dura.

The historiography of ancient Mediterranean religion has often been bound with concepts such as the self, individuation, and privatization. These concepts have been used to explain developments in a broad range of areas, including Christian asceticism, Rabbinic Halakhah, literary authorship, the reconfiguration of rituals, and images of the afterlife. The very definition of this period has been tied to how it presented a "new care of the self" or an "interiorization" of religion. This seminar considers the opportunities and challenges these concepts pose by examining scholarship on the period and the evidence it seeks to explain.

In this cross-disciplinary course about ancient Antioch students learn about religious and ethnic diversity, imperial power, and domestic life in antiquity and communicate their knowledge clearly through creating virtual exhibits that draw on objects in collections at Princeton and Harvard. The seminar focuses on literary, archaeological, and art historical materials. This course is parallel-taught at Harvard Divinity School by Prof. Laura Nasrallah. Participants travel to collections at Dumbarton Oaks, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Worcester Art Museum, and Harvard University.

This seminar explores ancient Jewish memory-making and historiography through a doubled focus on [1] the shifting ideas about time and the normative past in Second Temple Jewish and late antique Jewish and Christian sources and [2] modern scholarly approaches to the periodization of ancient Judaism and the transition from Second Temple Judaism to post-70 Judaism and Christianity in particular. In the process, we consider the theorization of temporality, forgetting, and cultural memory within and beyond Religious Studies--and ask what test-cases from ancient Jewish sources might contribute to them.

This course provides a broad introduction to major themes in and literature exploring African American religious history. We consider the stakes of defining African American religions, both historically and in scholarship; the role of African American religions in politics, economics, education, and culture; transnational engagements in African American religious history; religious diversity; and gender and sexuality in African American religions.

This course provides a broad introduction to major themes in and recent literature exploring the history of religion in modern American culture. Topics may include religion, politics, and law; empire, migration, and immigration; religious diversity; race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; theological conflicts and transformations.

In this course we engage questions of approach, method, periodization, and scope in the study of religion in America through the Civil War. Texts consist of secondary literature with both classic and contemporary importance to the field, along with brief primary sources selected and presented by students.

This course explores how histories of African American religions have produced enduring interpretive frames. Questions that animate this course include: What role have African American religions played in African American life? How have scholars studied the history of African American religions and shaped the discourse about African American religious life? The course considers African American religions and class, gender, racial identity formation, political engagement, cultural exchange and more. Through reading of foundational and newer texts, we will explore the sources and methodologies scholars use to study African American religion.