Witchcraft Syllabus
Witchcraft Syllabus
Witchcraft Syllabus
This course will provide critical, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives on religion, magic
and witchcraft. We will examine how people in different cultures conceive of the supernatural
and the role that the study of religions, magic, witchcraft and sorcery has played in the formation
of anthropology as a scholarly discipline. We will both read classic and contemporary
anthropological accounts of religion, magic and witchcraft in Europe, Africa, America and
elsewhere, while critically interrogating those same anthropological writings.
We will start by surveying how scholars have defined religion, symbol and myth, and how the
study of the other (and his/her beliefs) has helped constitute anthropological knowledge. What
is religion? How do some practices and beliefs come to be defined as religions while others
are characterized as myth, sorcery or witchcraft (and do class, gender or race have anything
to do with that)? With this background, e will look at three in-depth ethnographic accounts in
some detail. We will then look at witch crazes or witch-hunts -- the persecution of certain
individuals accused of being witches or sorcerers -- in medieval Europe, colonial America,
and contemporary Africa. Finally, we will examine contemporary Wicca/neo-pagan religions.
The class is designed to meet the following University and departmental learning objectives:
Develop critical perspectives and analytic skills
Explore multi-disciplinary approaches to social science analysis and research
Promote global awareness, explore international/global perspectives
20%
20%
20%
10%
30%
MyCourses
This is a blended class. All students are required to use the online learning system MyCourses to
hand in their written work, and many reading materials are only available there. You MUST
activate your UMD email account so you can log into MyCourses. The MyCourses log in page
is: http://dartmouth.umassonline.net/index.cfm
If you have any trouble you have three options for getting help:
Fieldwork assignment
The best way to learn anthropology is to do anthropology, and that means doing ethnographic
fieldwork. Cultural anthropologists acquire knowledge about peoples and cultures by observing,
talking and interacting with people as they go about the business of their lives. We call this
participant observation, and it is one of the hallmarks of anthropological research. Therefore,
everyone in the class will complete one small fieldwork assignment. You may choose to do a
fieldwork-based research paper (see the instructions for the research paper).
Basically, you will go to a place or attend an event that is religious or spiritual in nature (a house
of worship or ceremony from a religion other than your own, a secular ritual, a spiritual reader),
make some observations and then write up a short ethnographic description of what you saw. The
fieldwork assignment is due in November but you may hand it in earlier.
There are numerous houses of worship in New Bedford and Fall River, ranging from Catholic
services designed to meet the needs of specific ethnic communities (Portuguese, Latino, Cape
Verdean) to some non-mainstream Christian groups (the Scarlet Cord Spiritual Baptist Church on
Coggeshall Street) and non-Christian congregations (Jewish, Buddhist). Ranging a little further,
there are Vodun and Santeria priests and priestesses in Boston. I will post some ideas on the
MyCourses site but it is up to YOU to find a place or event and complete this assignment. If there
is interest, I will arrange an optional field trip to Salem. I will also try to let people know of any
religious events or ceremonies that might be of interest
Research paper
Each student will do an independent research project culminating in an 11-12 page research paper
due in early December. You may do a fieldwork-based project (primary research) or a
library/archival based project (secondary research). This can take several forms. You can study a
religion, spiritual practice, ritual, etc. that is not your own, utilizing anthropological methods and
perspectives. If you do a library project there are strict requirements in terms of the number
and type of sources that are acceptable (scholarly, not mass market, books, and articles in peerreviewed journals). If you do a fieldwork-based project, you still must make use of theoretical or
analytic approaches from the class and you will need to do some library research as well for
background and contextualizing information. You may collaborate with another student in which
case you will jointly submit a 20-23 page paper. There are several stages to this project
(preliminary proposal, revised proposal, final paper) and you must complete all of them. No
papers will be accepted unless I have approved your proposal. You will be assigned a peer-review
partner and you are responsible for reading and commenting upon his/her draft paper. If you
change topics without my approval you risk getting a failing grade on the paper.
Reading
There is a substantial amount of reading for this class. Unless specifically marked as optional
everything listed on the schedule below is required.
The following texts are required and are available at the campus store:
Arthur Lehman, James Myers, Pamela Moro. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An
Anthropological Study of the Supernatural. 7th edition. (MWR)
E. Evans-Pritchard. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. (abbreviated as WOMA)
Paul Stoller and Cheryl Olkes. In Sorcerys Shadow (Stoller)
Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola: A Voodoo Priestess in Brooklyn. (ML)
All four books are widely used in anthropology and religion classes so they will have resale
value. I suggest you team up with someone in the class and share the books. Most other
required readings are electronic documents that will ONLY be available on MyCourses. A few
pieces are not available in electronic format and will be photocopied. It is your responsibility to
obtain the required materials and to keep track of what readings are due.
Expectations and policies
You must hand in your written assignments on MyCourses. Please activate your UMD
email account if you have not done. Updates to the syllabus, links for readings, and
copies of assignments will all be posted on MyCourses.
Please be on time, with cell phones and pagers turned off.
Do not leave early without clearing it in advance with me
Please do the reading before the class for which it is assigned.
Bring reading materials to class so we can refer to them during our discussions.
Take active part in class discussions. The discussion papers are meant to help frame class
discussions, not to check whether you have done the reading. If it is clear that people
are not doing the reading I will add more reading responses and adjust the grading.
Do not do your reading or homework for other classes.
Do not talk with your neighbor unless it is part of a class exercise. If you do not
understand something I say (or if you miss something), raise your hand and ask ME.
Since participation is an important part of your grade, attendance at all class sessions is
required. You are permitted two excused absences with no penalty. An excused absence
must be cleared IN ADVANCE (unless you can prove there was a documented
emergency situation) and requires written documentation. Valid reasons include court
appearances and medical emergencies. Regular medical appointments, vacations,
weddings, job interviews, studying for other classes are not legitimate excuses. I reserve
the right to treat any additional absences as unexcused regardless of the reason. All
unexcused absences will result in points off your final grade in the class (after 3
unexcused absences, I will lower your final grade by 1/3 of a letter grade for each
additional unexcused absence). If you miss a class it is YOUR responsibility to get notes
or updates from another student. Do not expect a private lesson from me
You are responsible for all handouts and keeping track of due dates.
All written work must be typed, double spaced, using 12-point Times Roman or an
equivalent typeface. There will be specific guidelines for the short essay, research paper
and fieldwork assignment.
Plagiarism (failing to cite your sources, using someone elses words or ideas as your
own) is a serious violation. All students are expected to be familiar with the Universitys
guidelines for Academic Honesty. Depending upon the seriousness of the offense, you
may receive a failing grade on the assignment or for the entire class. All instances of
plagiarism will be reported to the Dean.
I will not accept late work or grant extensions except under extraordinary circumstances
(an unforeseen and documented emergency or disaster that absolutely prevents you from
meeting the stated deadline). Poor time-management or competing academic or other
commitments are not sufficient reason.
Incompletes will only be granted under exceptional circumstances and if the student has
completed and received a passing grade on all other written work for the class
Communicating with the professor: Email or phone is fine; however, I do not check
my phone messages from off-campus so I will only respond to phone messages on the
days that I am on campus (TWR this semester). I generally respond to student emails as
soon as I read them . In most cases I will respond with 24 hours. Do me a favor: if you
write to me and say its important, please check YOUR email for the response. Theres
nothing more frustrating than writing a lengthy response to an urgent message from a
student, and then finding out a week later that the student did not bother to check his/her
email for the response.
I am happy to make time to talk with you. If my office hours are not convenient for you
please call or email me and we can make an appointment at another time. If you have to
cancel or if you will be late, call me promptly so that I do not sit around waiting for you
(believe it or not, I have other uses for my time).
If you are having trouble with any of the materials, assignments or anything else
PLEASE come see me, email me or call me. It is much easier for me to help you if you
come to me before whatever it is festers into a huge problem
TOPIC
Starting points:
anthropology and
religion
Anthropological
Perspectives
READING
none
ASSIGNMENTS
in class
T 9/9
Myths
Disc Paper 1A
R 9/11
Symbols
T 9/16
Discussion paper 2A
R 9/4
Discussion paper 1B
Extra credit: 1-2 page
paper reflecting on TV
coverage of Sept 11
anniversary
ritual
R 9/18
Ritual
T 9/23
Ritual specialists
R 9/25
T 9/30
Discussion paper 2B
Discussion Paper 3A
Preliminary proposal
Discussion paper 3B
Discussion paper 4A
Ritual Project: name of
group
R 10/2
Magic, witchcraft,
sorcery
Some definitions
Everyone must read
Intro and Malinowski,
then select two other
articles
T 10/7
Ritual project
R 10/9
Witches, oracles,
diviners
T 10/14
Social function of
witchcraft
Becoming a witchdoctor
Sorcery in Africa today
R 10/16
T 10/21
R 10/23
T 10/28
R 10/30
T 11/4
R 11/6
T 11/11
R 11/14
T 11/18
R 11/20
T 11/25
Discussion Paper 4B
WOMA Ch 4-7
Revised proposal
Ritual project: culture
sketch
Discussion paper 5A
WOMA Ch 8, 12, 13
Discussion paper 5B
Short essay 1
Disc Paper 8A
Disc Paper 8B
Research paper draft
Ritual project: myth
Peer review of paper due
Final write up on project
due at midnight
R 11/27
T 12/2
Thanksgiving
The witchcraze in
Europe
Everyone must read at
least one article for
group discussion
R 12/4
T 12/9
R 12/11
Witch-hunts in colonial
America
Witchcraft accusations
in contemporary Africa
T 12/16
NO CLASS
All readings on MyCourses
Yehuda Ben Nachman, The European
Witchcraze of the 14th-17th centuries
The American Journal of Sociology,
Vol. 86, No. 1. (Jul., 1980), pp. 1-31
Anderson and Gordon, Witchcraft
and the Status of Women The Case
of England. British Journal of
Sociology 29(2), June 1978
William Blecourt, The Making of the
Female Witch Gender and History
12(2), May 2000: 287-300
Readings from Levack
Andrew Ashforth, An Epidemic of
Witchcraft? The Implications of AIDS
for the Post-Apartheid State African
Studies Vol. 61, No. 1 (2002)
MyCourses
T. M. Luhrmann, The Goat and The
Gazelle: Witchcraft. (MWR 35)
Wendy Griffin, The Embodied
Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and
Female Divinity Sociology of
Religion, 56 (1) Spring, 1995: 35-48
MyCourses
D. Jorgensen and S. Russell,
American Neopaganism J. for the
Sci Study of Religion 1999, 38(3): 325338 MyCourses
J. Bloch Individualism and
Community in Alternative Spiritual
Magic J. for the Scientific Study of
Rel. 1998 37(2): 286-302
C. Fry, Goddess Ascending: Feminist
Neo-Pagan Witchcraft. Journal of
Pop. Culture MyCourses
Second short essay due
Discussion paper 9A
Discussion paper 9B
Last day of class,
attendance mandatory
If you are absent I will
not accept your second
essay