This semester I will be teaching a graduate-level course on "Mishnah and Tosefta." I have taught versions of this course before (and have posted them) but have made a few changes. Should anyone be interested, I am posting the revised syllabus here. … [Continue reading] about That Time of Year: My Mishnah Syllabus
Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity: Taking Stock
I am just emerging from a colloquium that earlier this week I co-organized with Ishay Rosen-Zvi on "Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity." As such things go, it was a bit unusual: we focused on five "meta" issues (state of the academic field; … [Continue reading] about Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity: Taking Stock
Lessons from the Semester….
My semester is winding down. It is funny the way that it does this; it has mostly ended but there are stray bits and pieces that seem to drag on interminably. Despite this, as at the end of every semester, I've started my own process of … [Continue reading] about Lessons from the Semester….
Canonization: The Simulation (Conclusion)
Yesterday in class we ran two historical simulations of the canonization of Christian Scripture. The assignment and process is described here. The results of both simulations were similar, in part (I presume) due to some tweaks in the rules that I … [Continue reading] about Canonization: The Simulation (Conclusion)
Canonizing the Christian Bible: A Simulation
Every couple of years I teach a class called "How the Bible Became Holy" (and no, I do not assign my book). The past few times I have taught it I have concluded with a simulation exercise - a game, really - in which different Christian groups (and … [Continue reading] about Canonizing the Christian Bible: A Simulation