Bible in America.

Catalog description

How do people read, use, interpret, remix, and resist the Bible in America? From the sermons of Jonathan Edwards in colonial America to graphic novels about Christian superheroes, the Bible has been interpreted and even rewritten for American culture and politics. Some politicians and grass-roots activists appeal to the bible in debates about sexual ethics and marriage, while others object to the use of a “sacred scripture” as a source for legislation on morality. American film and art retell biblical stories and use iconic biblical themes and archetypes in crafting new stories. Abolitionists and slave-owners alike cited the bible as an authority for their positions on slavery. This course will ask how biblical traditions have shaped American culture and politics and how diverse Americans have brought their own perspectives to interpreting, experiencing, and even recreating “Bible” in the United States.