Laboring in God s image Religion,

The category of labor is often understood as a secular concept – closely and inextricably intertwined with the logic and destiny of capital. In this paradigm the question of the human is teleologically bound to the transverse flows of capital, with the human emerging primarily as an economic subject. This course nudges us to think outside the framework where labor is primarily understood as an economic function, instead exploring how religious traditions have shaped alternative understandings of labor and the human experience. We turn to other imaginations – such as those embedded in and emerging from diverse religious traditions – and consider other trajectories and possibilities of labor. Across religious traditions, labor has been central to the definition of the human, in multiple, cacophonous ways. In this course, we will encounter various religious ideas of labor not only as the process through which world(s) are made, but also as the process through which the idea of the human is made, contested, and remade over and over again. Drawing from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, this course will explore how diverse religious traditions have used the concept of work to define, delineate, and defend what it means to be human. We will pair primary texts with films, short stories and secondary readings, 2 to understand how these traditions provide alternative ways of understanding labor – not merely as a mechanism of economic production but as a critical process through which we engage in the process of becoming human through our interactions with the divine, various non-human actors, and the natural world. In particular, we will examine how religious communities have historically mobilized around issues of labor justice, drawing from their theological and ethical frameworks to advocate for dignity, equity, and justice. These insights are particularly urgent in a time marked by widespread exploitation, the displacement of workers by automation, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, which challenge traditional understandings of human labor. This course hopes to facilitate a nuanced understanding of labor’s theological, ethical, and political dimensions and consider new possibilities for work and justice in a rapidly changing world.