WHAT DOES THIS COURSE COVER?
Witchcraft haunts the Western imagination to this day, from Central Europe to Britain to North America.
This course explores the development of witchcraft and of the belief in it (stressing the difference between the two), the sixteenth and seventeenth-century obsession that spawned witch-hunting, the eventual decline of witchcraft, and the phenomenon’s fascinating ‘afterlife’ that has involved the Nazis’ fixation and modern treatments including Arthur Millar’s acclaimed The Crucible. This course is designed to be an introduction to a subject that is compelling, disturbing, and a little understood cultural touchstone.
Some of the topics that will be covered in this course are as follows:
- Introduction and Pre History.
- Witchcraft and Witch Hunting.
- The Decline of Witch Hunting.
- The Afterlife of Witchcraft.
- Places of Interest and Further Reading