Jerusalem: History & Holiness

Catalog description

The city of Jerusalem has had a nearly unsurpassed historical and religious prominence for three millennia, right up through the present. In this course we will explore Jerusalem from multiple, complementary perspectives. We will consider the history of the city as well as religious developments within the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. We will begin with biblical Jerusalem and then move forward in time, highlighting periods, events, and ideas that have lasting influence through close studies and discussions of selected topics. We will draw on theoretical approaches to the study of sacred space using tools from the field of comparative religion.