• the study of religions of the ancient Mediterranean world, especially as they interacted in the Hellenistic-Roman period;

• ancient historical approaches to issues of religion and culture/society through the study 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 Jewish and Christian Bible in its historical context.