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This course will course will examine interactions between the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Topics will come mainly from philosophy and religion, although other forms of cultural exchange will be noted. Topics may include the Indo-European question, Zoroastrian dualism and the Bible, the god Mit(h)ra(s), Achaemenid religious policies, Buddhism and the Hellenistic world, Manichaeism and Augustine, Nestorian Christianity. The foundational objective of the course is to reevaluate the popular ideas of East and West from their supposed origins.