Course Description:
This seminar will
examine
the religious and cultural history of the Mediterranean world in late
antiquity
(from around 150 to 600) focusing on questions of conversion and
Christianization
that have remained a subject of lively debate among historians.
How
did early Christianity relate to Judaism and Greco-Roman
paganism?
Why were Christians persecuted? How did Christianity become the
dominant
religion of the Roman Empire? What did "conversion" mean for men
and women of different classes, both before and after the conversion of
the Roman emperor Constantine? Did paganism completely disappear
or did it survive in altered forms? How did “Christianization”
affect
law, society, and the state as the classical world evolved into the
civilizations
of early medieval Europe and Byzantium? These are some of the
questions
we will consider as we examine varieties of religious experience,
patterns
of religious conflict, and examples of cultural continuity and change
in
late antiquity.
This class will also
introduce
students to serious historical research in both primary and secondary
sources
involving two shorter writing assignments as well as active
participation
in discussions. The seminar will culminate in a class
presentation
and substantial research paper (15-20 pages) on a topic of the
student’s
choice.
