RST 319/419 - Gender, Sexuality, Race, and the Bible (3)

This course examines the presence(s), result(s), and interpretation(s) of gender and race in biblical literature and the issues and problems those categories present to the reader. The objectives of the course are 1) to alert ourselves to implicit and/or explicit ideologies of race and/or gender in biblical literature; 2) to awaken ourselves to various ways in which those ideologies have been and continue to be used to maintain various politics of oppression, as well as the status quo in differing contexts; 3) to engender critical reflection on and academic study of biblical literature, as well as challenge students to reflect upon their own position(s) within the ideologies of race found therein; 4) to reflect upon the way(s) in which these ideologies have contributed to both gender and racial inequalities, and in so doing examine how biblical literature has influenced our various modern understandings of race and gender; and 5) for students to develop their own view(s) of the subject matter through reading primary and secondary sources, in-class discussion, and independent research.