Spellbound: Witches, Witchcraft, and Witch Hunts
Spring Semester 2021
And now we have with Horror seen the Discovery of such Witchcraft! An Army of Devils is horribly broke in . . . and the Houses of Good People there are filled with the doleful Shrieks of their Children and Servants, Tormented by Invisible Hands, with Tortures altogether preternatural. --From Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather, 1693
This colloquium will explore the cultural phenomena of witches, witchcraft, and witch- hunts with a special focus what happened in Salem in 1692. References to witch hunts are now commonplace cultural references, and this colloquium will examine how such references evolved from actual historical events and their printed histories. Belief in witchcraft and magic was widespread for centuries and in many ways supplemented standard religious beliefs. Moreover, belief in witchcraft is widespread today. Wicca, also known as Pagan Witchcraft, is a fast-growing belief system that has countless followers worldwide, and Salem, Massachusetts, now known as the Home of Halloween, has annual witch celebrations and parades. Far from being hunted down and eradicated, witches and witchcraft are now mainstream and marketable. And tragically, in certain parts of the world, suspected witches are still being hunted down and murdered.
Reading both primary and secondary sources, this colloquium will discuss historical beliefs in witchcraft and, as a specific case study, closely consider the infamous—yet still baffling—events in Salem where nineteen people were executed, another tortured to death, and more than a dozen died in prison. Since 1692 countless writers have offered interpretations, yet there is still no single explanation to understand why, in a matter of months, several hundred people were accused of witchcraft in such a small, confined geographic area.
Witchcraft is also a commercially successful subject in numerous popular media, such as Young Adult fiction, television, and film, and this colloquium will also study how such media depicts witches for market consumption, reviewing well-known depictions from The Wizard of Oz to Bewitched and to Harry Potter.
Course Outcomes:
--a general familiarity with the historical development of belief systems in witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunts, particularly as the phenomena and events took place in Europe from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries and was then transferred to seventeenth-century Massachusetts.
--a general familiarity with the historical events that took place in the village of Salem in 1692, particularly in regard to gender issues and social hierarchy.
-- a general familiarity with selected primary and secondary texts discussing witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunts with special focus on the Salem events and various interpretations of these events.
--a general familiarity with depictions of witches, witchcraft, and witch hunts in art and popular media from the eighteenth century to the present, particularly in film and television.
--a general understanding of how literature and media impact society and the individual.
--an ability to use writing to gain and express an understanding of discipline-specific content.
Course Outline:
Thursday, January 21
Introduction to course outcomes and requirements
Clips from The Wizard of Oz
Brief passages Wonders of the Invisible World (1692) concerning Martha Carrier’s trial for witchcraft, handout
Thursday, January 28
“Witches on Screen,” 253-280, handout
“An Anthropological Perspective on the Witchcraze,” James Brain, handout
Clips from Bewitched
Thursday, February 4
The Salem Witch Hunt, 1-31, 42-43
From American Witches, 105-119, handout
Clips from The Witches of Eastwick
Thursday, February 11
The Salem Witch Hunt, A Captivating History, 1-54
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 1-12
Clips from The Witches
Thursday, February 18
The Salem Witch Hunt, A Captivating History, 55-101
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 13-26
Clips from Hocus-Pocus
Thursday, February 25
The Salem Witch Hunt, 45-47, 49-61
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 27-44
Clips from The Crucible
Thursday, March 4
The Salem Witch Hunt, 67-94
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 45-60
Clips from The Craft
Thursday, March 11
Spring Refresh
Thursday, March 18
The Salem Witch Hunt, 94-117
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 61-77
Clips from Practical Magic
Thursday, March 25
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, “Handmaidens of the Devil,” 117-152, handout
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 78-94
Clips from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Thursday, April 1
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, “Handmaidens of the Lord,” 153-181, handout
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 95-110
Clips from Bewitched
Thursday, April 8
“The Witch Trials,” Rita Voltmer, Oxford, 97- 133, handout
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, 111-123
Clips from The Witch
Thursday, April 15
From A Storm of Witchcraft, “Witch City,” 256-286, handout
Clips from The Love Witch
Thursday, April 22
Witchcraft Today, class research
Clips from The Little Witch
Thursday, April 29
Final Student Presentations
Primary Texts (available in the bookstore and elsewhere)
Witchcraft: A Short Introduction, Malcolm Gaskill, 2010
The Salem Witch Hunt, Richard Godbeer, 2018
The Salem Witch Hunts, A Captivating History, 2019
Additional Readings will be Taken from the Following Texts:
Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather 1693
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Carol Karlsen, 1987
A Storm of Witchcraft, Emerson Baker, 2015
The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic, Owen Davies, ed, 2017
Clips will be Taken from Various Films and Television Shows (TBA)
Course Requirements:
1) Attendance and Participation. You are required to take an active part in the colloquium and to contribute to its success. In nearly every class there will be some sort of in-class activity (brief writing assignments, group work, assigned discussions), and anyone absent will not receive credit for these activities. Missing more than three classes during the term will result in failure.
2) Familiarity with the Texts. A reading knowledge of the assigned texts is essential and expected. Please read. I will expect a familiarity with the assigned readings for every class. About 50-60 pages will be assigned for each class.
3) Journals. Throughout the semester you are required to keep an online journal (a blog) and post a minimum of ten entries—five before Spring Refresh, and five after Spring Refresh. In these entries you are asked to comment specifically on your learning experiences—particularly in this course about what you’ve read, but also in all of your learning experiences (both inside and outside of classrooms). In response to our assigned readings and class discussions, please describe what you found interesting, useful, and/or relevant in your learning experiences. You are also welcome to comment on what you did not find to be interesting, useful, and/or relevant. What you write is up to you, but I ask is that you reflect on your learning experiences and assess the value of these experiences in terms of your own life.
There are now multiple sites online that will help you create a blog. The one I recommend is Blogger.Com, since it is by far the easiest to use:
http://www.blogger.com
WordPress is another good site. Both Blogger and WordPress are free.
3) Popular Media Preview Assignment. Throughout the semester we will view parts of a number of films and TV shows depicting witches, and for each film or show a team of 2 students will preview, introduce, present, and discuss the depictions in terms of our course’s subjects and themes. Each team will preview its film or show in advance, choose up to 20 minutes of clips, and then prepare brief introductions for each of the sequences they’ve chosen. The primary focus of their introductions and discussions should demonstrate how witches and witchcraft were dramatized for popular audiences and as well how these depictions compare to the historical representations in our primary texts. Teams may also offer critical assessments on their film’s overall quality, acting performances, cinematic techniques, and special effects. Instead of rotten tomatoes, our class will award broomsticks. Each team will present twice.
4) Final Essay. You are required to write a final 5-page personal essay discussing what you learned about witches and witch-hunts, and especially the Salem events of 1692, in light of your readings and class discussions throughout the semester. Specific areas and topics are open, but you are required examine what you have learned about witches and Salem, your reaction to what you’ve learned, and your reaction to current contemporary beliefs, practices, and references concerning witchcraft.
5) Final Presentation. For the final course assignment, teams of 2 students will be required to create and present a brief video (8 minutes max) that offers a concluding reflection of the team’s thoughts, observations, and experiences throughout the semester. There is no specific format or formula, but teams are asked to reflect on what they experienced as learners that was interesting, memorable, and relevant. Teams may reflect on what they liked or disliked, what they were fascinated with or disgusted by, or particularly what they think were the most relevant things they learned. These videos should be engaging and creative. Ultimately, each team must create a video responding to one overall question: What are you going to take away from this course?
6) Never Use the Non-Word “Very.” For the rest of the semester, at least in our class, this use of this unnecessary four-letter non-word is forbidden. This non-word is used far too frequently, and people who use it excessively tend to demonstrate a lack of vocabular.
Final Exercise During Exam Week. All TCU instructors are required to meet their students during exam week. Rather than a comprehensive course exam, you will be asked to respond to a series of questions to assess the quality of your performance throughout the semester.
Grading Scale:
Attendance/participation 10%
Journals 30%
Film Previews 30%
Final Essay 15%
Final Presentation 15%
Please Note: TCU Online will be used for archiving course documents and for grading, but our central course blog will used for online discussions.
Dan Williams, PhD
Director, TCU Press, Honors Professor of Humanities
Library 1238 and TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
817-257-5907 office; 817-239-1376 cell
Virtual Office Hours, Friday 11 AM till noon, other hours by appointment
d.e.williams@tcu.edu
Netiquette: Communication Courtesy Code
All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, discussions, and chats. If I deem any of them to be inappropriate or offensive, I will forward the message to the Chair of the department and appropriate action will be taken, not excluding expulsion from the course. The same rules apply online as they do in person. Be respectful of other students. Foul discourse will not be tolerated. Please take a moment and read the basic information about netiquette. (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/).
Participating in the virtual realm, including social media sites and shared-access sites sometimes used for educational collaborations, should be done with honor and integrity. This site provides guidance on personal media accounts and sites (https://tinyurl.com/PersonalMedia).
Academic Misconduct
Academic Misconduct (Sec. 3.4 from the TCU Code of Student Conduct): Any act that violates the academic integrity of the institution is considered academic misconduct. The procedures used to resolve suspected acts of academic misconduct are available in the offices of Academic Deans and the Office of Campus Life and are listed in detail in the Undergraduate Catalog. Specific examples include, but are not limited to:
• Cheating: Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings; using, during any academic exercise, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test; collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test or laboratory without permission; knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release; substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself.
• Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore.
• Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
• Abuse of resource materials: Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such material.
• Computer misuse: Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student.
• Fabrication and falsification: Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise.
• Multiple submission: The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization.
• Complicity in academic misconduct: Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct.
• Bearing false witness: Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
Support for TCU Students
Campus Offices
• Brown-Lupton Health Center (817-257-7863)
• Campus Life (817-257-7926, Sadler Hall 2006)
• Center for Academic Services (817-257-7486, Sadler Hall 1022)
• Center for Digital Expression (CDeX) (817-257-7350, Scharbauer 2003)
• Mary Couts Burnett Library (817-257-7117)
• Office of Religious & Spiritual Life (817-257-7830, Jarvis Hall 1st floor)
• Student Development Services (817-257-7855, BLUU 2003)
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• Veterans Services (817-257-5557, Jarvis Hall 219)
Anti-Discrimination and Title IX Information
Statement on TCU’s Discrimination Policy
TCU prohibits discrimination and harassment based on age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ethnic origin, disability, predisposing genetic information, covered veteran status, and any other basis protected by law, except as permitted by law. TCU also prohibits unlawful sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, sexual assault, incest, statutory rape, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, bullying, stalking, and retaliation. We understand that discrimination, harassment, and sexual violence can undermine students’ academic success and we encourage students who have experienced any of these issues to talk to someone about their experience, so they can get the support they need.
• Review TCU’s Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Conduct or to file a complaint: https://titleix.tcu.edu/title-ix/.
• Learn about the Campus Community Response Team and Report a Bias Incident: https://titleix.tcu.edu/campus-community-response-team/
Statement on Title IX at TCU
As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. It is my goal that you feel able to share information related to your life experiences in classroom discussions, in your written work, and in our one-on-one meetings. I will seek to keep any information your share private to the greatest extent possible. However, I have a mandatory reporting responsibility under TCU policy and federal law and I am required to share any information I receive regarding sexual harassment, discrimination, and related conduct with TCU’s Title IX Coordinator. Students can receive confidential support and academic advocacy by contacting TCU’s Confidential Advocate in the Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education office at (817) 257-5225 or the Counseling & Mental Health Center at https://counseling.tcu.edu/ or by calling (817) 257-7863. Alleged violations can be reported to the Title IX Office at https://titleix.tcu.edu/student-toolkit/ or by calling (817) 257-8228. Should you wish to make a confidential report, the Title IX Office will seek to maintain your privacy to the greatest extent possible, but cannot guarantee confidentiality. Reports to law enforcement can be made to the Fort Worth Police Department at 911 for an emergency and (817) 335-4222 for non-emergency or TCU Police at (817) 257-7777.
Obligations to Report Conduct Raising Title IX or VAWA Issues
Mandatory Reporters: All TCU employees, except Confidential Resources, are considered Mandatory Reporters for purposes of their obligations to report, to the Coordinator, conduct that raises Title IX and/or VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) issues.
Mandatory Reporters are required to immediately report to the Coordinator information about conduct that raises Title IX and/or VAWA issues, including any reports, complaints or allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and those forms of prohibited conduct that relate to nonconsensual sexual intercourse or contact, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, stalking and retaliation involving any member of the TCU community, except as otherwise provided within the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Conduct.
Mandatory Reporters may receive this information in a number of ways. For example, a complainant may report the information directly to a Mandatory Reporter, a witness or third-party may provide information to a Mandatory Reporter, or a Mandatory Reporter may personally witness such conduct. A Mandatory Reporter’s obligation to report such information to the Coordinator does not depend on how he/she received the information. Mandatory Reporters must provide all known information about conduct that raises Title IX or VAWA issues to the Coordinator, including the identities of the parties, the date, time and location, and any other details. Failure of a Mandatory Reporters to provide such information to the Coordinator in a timely manner may subject the employee to appropriate discipline, including removal from a position or termination of employment.
Mandatory Reporters cannot promise to refrain from forwarding the information to the Coordinator if it raises Title IX or VAWA issues or withhold information about such conduct from the Coordinator. Mandatory Reporters may provide support and assistance to a complainant, witness, or respondent, but they should not conduct any investigation or notify the respondent unless requested to do so by the Coordinator.
Mandatory Reporters are not required to report information disclosed (1) at public awareness events (e.g., “Take Back the Night,” candlelight vigils, protests, “survivor speak-outs,” or other public forums in which students may disclose such information (collectively, public awareness events); or (2) during an individual’s participation as a subject in an Institutional Review Board approved human subjects research protocol (IRB Research). TCU may provide information about Title IX rights and available resources and support at public awareness events, however, and Institutional Review Boards may, in appropriate cases, require researchers to provide such information to all subjects of IRB Research.
911 for an emergency and (817) 335-4222 for non-emergency or TCU Police at (817) 257-7777.
Statement of Disability Services at TCU
Disabilities Statement: Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Student Disabilities Services in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, room 1010 or http://www.acs.tcu.edu/disability_services.asp. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.
Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-6567.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/disability_documentation.asp.
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