AP/RLST 3560 3.00

Bad Girls In the Bible I

The Bible offers archetypal figures for Western art, music and film as well as literature. This course will analyze women in the Hebrew Bible with a focus on sexuality, seduction, murder and mayhem. Beginning with Eve and her counterpart Lilith the Bible offers portraits of women who are inquisitive, dangerous and powerful while also demonstrating how patriarchy has attempted to silence and disempower them. Women like Rahab, Yael and Judith use their sexuality for the purposes of salvation while other women like Jezebel or Delilah are presented as evil. We will read primary sources in the Hebrew Bible. Through theoretical and textual study we will examine the ways in which these biblical women are represented in literature, art, music and film.

RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Judaism

Cross-listed as AP/GWST 3560 3.00 and GL/GWST 3560 3.00.

Course Category: Religion and Gender