RELS 111 Displaced peoples of the Mediterranean
This course focuses on displacement as a defining feature of Mediterranean history from antiquity to the present. In the first half of the course, we will study a series of case studies on displaced peoples from antiquity: those who were forced from their homelands because of religious or political exile (including, Judeans, political criminals, sexual deviants, and heretics), because of natural disaster (including, those stranded by shipwreck or relocated by earthquakes, drought, or famine), or because of war (including, prisoners of war, and refugees). Through these case studies, we will attend to how ancient folks described their experiences of displacement, their expressions of grief and longing for home, their unique vulnerabilities in new communities, as well as the care and hospitality extended to them. In the second half of the course, we will move forward in time to see how more modern displacements across the globe have been figured in terms of ancient precedents (such as, an odyssey or exodus), and we will query the conceptual resources such precedents provide in coping with and navigating displacement. Finally, we will study the acceleration of displacements in the Mediterranean region within the last decade, and students will engage in a social justice project related thereto. This course is part of the Humanities for Just Communities curriculum.