An examination of the social, legal, and religious position of women as they appear in the Hebrew Bible and the ways in which the have been represented and interpreted in later textual, visual, and audio sources.  Prereq: English 1110 (110). Not open to students with credit for 374. GE lit and diversity global studies course.  Cross-listed in Jewish Studies. 

This course examines the cultural images and legal status of women during biblical times and late antiquity. Although its focus will be on the period of ancient Israel, students will also examine how biblical narrative and law have continued to have an impact on Jewish, Christian and secular culture. By looking at the images of women in biblical texts, students will be asked how contemporary feminist readers of the Bible have found new meanings in a literature that has been the subject of so much re-reading and re-writing over the centuries. The course will begin with a general review of biblical literature and a historical survey of the status of women in some ancient societies. Throughout, its approach will be interdisciplinary, inviting students to pursue interests in historical, literary critical, feminist, and religious studies approaches.