Witchcraft in the Early Modern Atlantic World (263-0-20)

Instructors

Haley Elisabeth Bowen

Meeting Info

Block Pick-Laudati Auditorium: Mon, Wed, Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

The great witch trials of the early modern era peaked in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, leading to the public executions of an estimated 40,000 individuals throughout Europe and North America. This course contextualizes the witch trials within religious, cultural, social, and economic perspectives, offering a multifaceted account of why Europeans turned on their neighbors - a large majority of them women - and accused them of fraternizing with the devil, poisoning livestock, brewing love potions, and consorting with grotesque familiars. Towards the end of the course, we will discuss how modern ideologies of witchcraft - in fairy tales, films, and politics - continue to draw upon these earlier European cultural and intellectual legacies. At a moment when the specter of the "witch hunt" has re-entered American political discourse, the era of the witch burnings offers unsettling parallels to our own society.

Learning Objectives

In this class, students will: 1) gain a detailed understanding of early modern witchcraft beliefs and practices among both popular and elite social groups in Europe and the Americas; 2) assess the social, political, cultural, and religious factors that encouraged witchcraft persecution in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and engage critically with academic debates in secondary sources over the various motivations underlying the witch trials; 3) learn how to read early modern primary sources "slowly" by summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing them in order to generate and support writing; and 4) reflect upon why the cultural icon of the witch continues to exert such a powerful influence in contemporary politics and pop culture.

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Americas, European
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe, United States

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Harris Hall L04: Thurs 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - Harris Hall L04: Thurs 9:00AM - 9:50AM

DIS - Harris Hall L28: Thurs 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Hall 218: Thurs 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - University Hall 101: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Hall 312: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM