The Hebrew Bible is a diverse collection of writings produced during the first millennium BCE. This course is designed to familiarize students with this wide range of biblical literature in context with the imperial cultures that inspired and produced them. The course is organized along three axes. 1. Bible as literature: what are the genres, conventions, and modes of discourse that give shape to biblical writings? Do ancient categories of writing differ from the ways we think of modern literature? 2. Bible as imperial production: what are the influences of the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, and Hasmonean empires on the construction of Hebrew scriptures? 3. The Hebrew Bible in contemporary context: how do feminist, minoritized, queer, postcolonial and ecological interpretations of the Hebrew Bible assist in exploring contemporary meanings for how the texts are relevant today? What power or agency do texts have as material objects, and in what ways are they made meaningful through embodied enactment and performance. The course presumes no familiarity with the Hebrew Bible, and engages the text in English translation. Assigned work consists of short reflection papers, and the option of a term paper or creative/experimental final project.