Problem 1: What characteristics made Christianity and Buddhism universalizing religions, and why did they have such wide appeal in Afro-Eurasia?
Problem 2: What was the relationship between empires and universalizing religions across Afro-Eurasia in this period?
Problem 3: How were political unity and religious development connected both in sub-Saharan Africa and Mesoamerica in the fourth to sixth centuries CE?
Problem 4: How did unifying political and cultural developments in sub-Saharan Africa and Mesoamerica compare with those occurring in Afro-Eurasia during this period?