2017-18 Academic Catalog

Besides humans, animals, and gods, what other beings populate the cosmos? Where do evil, sin, and suffering come from? What can be done about them, and can their existence be justified philosophically? This course explores the problem of evil through an exploration of angels and demons in Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman traditions from antiquity to the present, with a focus on late antiquity. Special attention will be given to the bodies of angels and demons: Are they gendered? Where do they dwell? What do they know, and what can they do to humans? This course will also consider modern articulations of systemic, historical injustice.