The Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins (ISAC) is a graduate research center of The University of Texas at Austin. It is housed in the Department of Classics, which boasts one of the top ranked graduate programs in Classical languages, Ancient History, and Classical Archaeology in North America. At the same time, because of its focus on the study of religion and of the Bible and its world, ISAC also works in cooperation with the Religious Studies Program of UT Austin. The Institute promotes the development of specialized graduate offerings and degree programs as well as faculty and graduate student research support. Its major areas of emphasis are:

• Religions of the ancient Mediterranean world, especially as they interacted in the Hellenistic-Roman period.
  
  
• Ancient History approaches to issues of religion and culture/society through studies of historiography, archaeology, and social history.
  
  
• Historical-critical approaches to the literature and social context of formative Christianity and Judaism, particularly as informed by comparative study with Hellenistic and Roman phenomena.
  
  
• The study of the Bible in its historical context.