Gender and Sexuality in the Bible. This writing intensive course will examine issues of gender and sexuality in the Bible, including both the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the New Testament. It will introduce students to a variety of academic approaches to the Bible with respect to a broad range of topics, such as: gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, marriage, adultery, monogamy and polygyny, same-sex relations, divorce, prostitution, gender violence, pornography, procreation, abortion, and many others. Alongside a close reading of the text (philology), this course will employ historical and literary criticism, investigations into ancient material culture (archaeology), modern theoretical interpretive approaches, reception theory, and other methodologies to examine not only the biblical writings in their ancient contexts, but their interpretation and use throughout history to construct social norms.
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