Listed in: Religion, as RELI-179
Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos (Section 01)
This course introduces students to the academic study of religion by exploring the practices and material culture of Christianity during its first six centuries. We will consider how the lived experience of Christianity shaped religious subjectivities and how it intersected with the practices of Roman imperialism and hierarchies of gender, class, and ethnicity. Our examinations will include ritual practices, material culture, architectural spaces, relics and pilgrimage, music, olfaction, food cultures, and magic. To help us with our analyses, we will also engage theoretical work on embodiment, ritual, space, and aesthetics to think about the formation of religious subjectivities more broadly. No prior knowledge of the study of religion is required. The course will also involve a museum fieldtrip.
Fall Semester. Professor Falcasantos.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close reading and analysis of primary texts in translation and previous scholarship; visual and spatial analysis; group work; active participation in class discussion; oral presentations; formally written papers.
Course Materials