The Global Bible

(3 Credits)

What makes a text authoritative? Why do some writings endure for millennia, shaping the beliefs, identities, and institutions of societies far removed from the worlds in which they were first composed? This course explores these questions through the global history of the Bible and is designed for students with or without prior knowledge of this text. Sacred to Jews and Christians, foundational to Islam, and deeply influential in modern literature, politics, philosophy, and law, the Bible is a truly global book and has acquired remarkably different meanings across cultures and historical periods. Through fieldwork in the UAE, including visits to religious communities, museums, and cultural institutions, students study how diverse groups and individuals transmit, receive, adapt, interpret, and transform the text to new social and cultural circumstances today. By bringing together history, religious studies, and experiential learning, the course explores how communities continually negotiate the authority of texts in changing social, political, and ethical worlds.