JRN301H1

Disability in the Hebrew Bible and Related Texts

The Hebrew Bible (sometimes called the Old Testament) has influenced ideas about disability in societies across the globe for thousands of years. Yet, notions of disability in the Hebrew Bible may be strikingly different from what we might imagine. This course explores how some biblical texts and related ancient literature conceptualize disability in relation to issues of ethnicity, sexuality, beauty, age, social class, religious expression and so on. We will examine a number of these issues both in their ancient context and in some more recent interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. All readings will be in English. No knowledge of Hebrew is required.