Dennis Britton
Assistant Professor
Department of English
College of Liberal Arts
- Uncovering how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European Christians, especially the English, understood and represented non-European “infidels.”
- Considering how the Protestant Reformation, and its redefinitions of what it meant to be Christian, affected not only how Europeans saw themselves but also how they viewed non-Europeans (e.g. Africans, Asians, Amerindians).
- Examining how emerging concepts of race and human difference—concepts that came from increased awareness of and contact with non-Europeans—were employed in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century theological debates about who can be granted salvation.
- Considering how English writers responded to emerging concepts of race and Reformation ideas about salvation in their literary works, especially works representing “infidels” (e.g. Turks, Moors, Jews) converting to Christianity.