RELI 321: JERUSALEM PILGRIMS
Fall 2025 · Section 001 · CRN 14827
This course offers a broad survey of pilgrimage literature—fun and engaging first person travel narratives from all pre-modern periods of history. Some of the questions we put to these texts include: what motivates people to make arduous journeys over long distances, often on foot, to visit sacred sites? We will cover the travel experiences of pilgrims to Jerusalem, with a few other foci, such as Rome, Mecca, and Egypt. Included are Jewish, Christian, Muslim and agnostic travelers either propelled by strong faith, desire for healing, religious obligation, expiation for (perceived) transgressions, or mere curiosity to visit holy locales. Course material will be based upon selections from primary texts (approximately 45), pictures and depictions, as well as theoretical works, and will enable the student to visualize and analyze pre-modern materials written (for the most part) in their own words.
- Credits
- 3
- Instructors
- Claire Fanger, David Cook