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Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean

PhD Program Description

Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM) incorporates our prior Ph.D. programs in Early Christianity and in Ancient Judaism, as well as the study of various other ancient Mediterranean religions, including those of ancient West Asia. All applications to study one or more religions of the Ancient Mediterranean and ancient West Asia should be made to RAM. Choosing both a major and a minor related area, students will examine ancient religions synchronically, understanding how they formed and functioned in their social, intellectual, and political contexts.

Admission

Most successful applicants to RAM come with an MA in a related field, although exceptionally promising BA students with significant undergraduate study in appropriate areas are also considered for admission. Students are expected to have had some training in the academic study of religion. Students intending to specialize in some aspect of Ancient Judaism must have a minimum two years of college level biblical Hebrew or its equivalent; a working knowledge of modern and rabbinic Hebrew and introductory ancient Greek are also highly desirable. Students intending to specialize in some aspect of early Christianity, or Greek, or Roman religion, should have college level training in Greek or Latin, and ideally both. Preference will be given to RAM applicants who have appropriate prior study of Greek (and other appropriate languages) and a reading knowledge of French or German, as well as prior work in the history, literature and religions of the ancient Mediterranean.

Coursework

During the first year the student, in consultation with the advisory faculty, will design a curriculum that allows for exploration while remaining focused. RS 2000 must be taken as soon as possible.

At the end of the first year, students will choose both a major and minor field. Upon choosing these fields, each student will be assigned a preliminary advisory committee consisting of at least one faculty member from the major and one from the minor field. This advisory committee may or may not be identical to the student's eventual dissertation committee.

Possible major or minor fields include:

  • Israelite Religion
  • Judean Religion (Judaism) from the fifth century, BCE to first century, CE
  • Judean Religion (Judaism) from the first century, CE to the seventh century, CE
  • Greek religion
  • Roman religion
  • Early Christianity (first - fourth centuries, CE)
  • Christianity in Late Antiquity (fourth - seventh centuries CE)
  • Early Islam

In addition to these, students may choose as a minor field only:

  • Northwest Semitic religion (i.e., Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramean);
  • Egyptian religion
  • Mesopotamian religion

Students are expected to complete at least three seminars (or independent studies) in one’s major field and two in one’s minor. All coursework must be completed prior to being allowed to sit for the Preliminary Examination.

Languages

All students must demonstrate that they are able to comprehend and utilize scholarly writings in French and German. Those students who major or minor in some fields (particularly Israelite religion and Judaism in any time period) must also demonstrate competency in modern scholarly Hebrew. Required ancient languages are determined according to the student's field, in consultation with the student's advisory committee. All major fields require knowledge of Greek; Israelite religion and all periods of Judaism also require proficiency in ancient Hebrew, and knowledge of Aramaic; early Islam requires proficiency in Arabic. Students studying Christianity are ordinarily expected to learn Latin and/or Coptic or Syriac. Diagnostic examinations are ordinarily given to entering students in Greek, Latin, and other languages as appropriate, typically consisting of a three-hour translation test in which lexical aids may be used. Students may be asked to retake one or more of these examinations annually until they have achieved an adequate level of competence, as determined by the faculty. In some cases, advanced (graduate level) coursework, with a grade of B or better, may satisfy this requirement, at the discretion of the faculty. All language requirements should be completed by the end of the student's second year (or third if the student entered without an M.A.), and must be fulfilled prior to sitting for the Preliminary Examination.

Preliminary Examination

Ordinarily, students who entered with an MA in a related field will spend their third year of study preparing for and taking the Preliminary Examination. Students who entered without an MA in a related field are expected to complete the Preliminary Examination during their fourth year of study. Presently, the RAM Preliminary Examination is taken in four parts: Major Field; Minor Field; Ancillary area; Dissertation area. Preparation for these examinations, including reading lists for the major and minor fields, will be made in consultation with the student's advisory committee. The major field examination is administered by the major field advisor, in consultation with the advisory committee; the minor field examination is administered by the minor field advisor, also in consultation with the advisory committee.

The ancillary examination is presently under discussion by the faculty. Originally it was intended to allow the student to acquire additional expertise in an area that might bear directly on the student's interests or one that might complement the student's teaching abilities, to be determined in consultation with the advisory committee.

The dissertation area examination is also administered by a faculty member chosen by the student in consultation with the student's committee, and who usually becomes the dissertation director.

Dissertation

RAM students follow the usual department procedures for the preparation and submission of a dissertation prospectus, appointment of dissertation committee, research, writing, submission and defense of the dissertation. For details, see the Handbook.

 

 

Core Faculty

Susan Ashbrook Harvey
Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of Religious Studies
Susan_Harvey@brown.edu

Nancy S. Khalek
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Nancy_Khalek@brown.edu

Ross S. Kraemer
Professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies
Ross_Kraemer@brown.edu

Nicola Denzey Lewis
Visiting Assistant Professor
Nicola_Denzey@brown.edu

Affiliated Faculty

Susan Alcock
Director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World and Joukowsky Family
Professor of Archaeology and Professor of Classics
Susan_Alcock@brown.edu

James Allen
Wilbour Professor of Egyptology
James_Allen@brown.edu

John Bodel
W. Duncan MacMillian II Professor of History and Classics
John_Bodel@brown.edu

Deborah Boedecker
Professor Emerita of Classics
Deborah_Boedecker@brown.edu

Katharina Galor
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies
Katharina_Galor@brown.edu

Mary Louise Gill
Professor of Philosophy and Classics
Mary_Louise_Gill@brown.edu

 

 

 

Saul Olyan
Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies
Saul_Olyan@Brown.edu

Michael Satlow
Professor of Judaic Studies and Religious Studies
Michael_Satlow@Brown.edu

Stanley K. Stowers
Professor of Religious Studies
Stanley_Stowers@brown.edu

 

 

 

 

David Konstan
Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature
David_Konstan@brown.edu

Stratis Papaioannou
William A. Dyer, Jr. Assistant Professor in the Humanities (Classics)
sp@brown.edu

Kurt Raaflaub
Professor Emeritus of Classics and History
Kurt_Raaflaub@brown.edu

Matthew Rutz
Asst Professor of Egyptology & Ancient Western Asian Studies
Matthew_Rutz@brown.edu

Kenneth S. Sacks
Professor of History
Kenneth_Sacks@brown.edu

Recent Seminars

  • Early Jewish Prayer
  • Ancient "Pseudepigrapha"
  • Roman Religions
  • The Cappodocians
  • Issues in Pauline Studies
  • Early Christian Hymnography
  • Christianity in the Late First and Early Second Centuries
  • Christianizing Antioch
  • The Christianization of the Syrian Orient
  • The Disappearance of the (Judean) Diaspora
  • Literature of the Early Second Temple Period
  • Early Christian Narrative Traditions (Gospels)
  • Early Christian Narrative Traditions (Apocryphal Acts)
  • Exegesis at Qumran
  • Orthodoxy in Antiquity
  • Jewish and Christian Women in the Greco-Roman Period
  • Midrash Sifra
  • Early Christian "Apocalypticism"
  • The Virgin Mary in Late Antiquity
  • Moral and Religious Economies of Greco-Roman Households
  • Philo
  • Problems in Israelite History of Religion
  • Psychology and Psychagogy in Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity
  • Religion in the Dead Sea Scrolls

RECENT DISSERTATIONS

  • "If Sons, Then Heirs" : A Study of Kinship and Ethnicity in Paul's Letters
  • Exorcising the Devil to Silence Christ's Enemies: Ritualized Speech Practices in Late Antiquity
  • The Body of the Poor in 4th Century Cappadocia: Seven Sermons on Hunger, Sickness, and Penury
  • The Rhetorical Form of the Melchizedek - Christ Comparison in Hebrews 7
  • "I Have Myself Seen": The Representation of Humanity in the Writings of Apa Shenute of Atripe
  • "They Sit Apart at Meals" : Early Rabbinic Commensality Regulations and Identity Construction
  • Inscribing Devotion and Death in Context: Deciphering Jewish Culture of Roman North Africa (2nd-6th centuries, C.E.)
  • The Establishment of Proper Mental Disposition and Practice: the Origin, Meaning, and Social Purpose of the Prohibition of Oaths in Matthew
  • Images of Others: Icon Parodies and Iconic Politics in Ancient Israel
  • What Temples Stood For: Constantine, Eusebius, and Roman Imperial Practice
  • Lives in Competition: Biographical Literature and the Struggle for Philosophy in Late Antiquity
  • Apostolic Memories: Religious Differentiation and the Construction of Orthodoxy in Syriac Missionary Literature
  • The End of Animal Sacrifice