Lecture by Carla Pestana of UCLA Department of History. The early Quaker movement took the world by storm beginning in the 1650s, with “witnesses to the truth” traveling widely to spread their message.  In response, nervous authorities used various mechanism to contain the threat they were seen to pose. Major themes in early American and...

The inhabitants of the ancient biblical world—including many ancient Israelites—viewed their cosmos as the home of many unseen forces: for example, powerful gods and their entourages, but also malevolent demons. This talk explores the possibility that beating upon drums may have been one means by which the ancients warded off these demonic agents. We will...