HIST 3910 - Witchcraft, Magic, and Sorcery in Early America

Credit Hours: (3)

Description: This course focuses on early Americans’ pervasive belief in the supernatural. Students consider how cultural differences shaped views on the supernatural and affected outcomes for those accused of behavior outside the accepted community mores. While the Salem witchcraft crisis is a focal point of the course, students also consider the traditions of supernatural belief, as well as concerns and accusations of occult behavior beyond Salem, in order to contextualize and explain the Salem crisis while developing a more complete understanding of competing ideologies and dynamics of power.

Students will analyze court records, religious tracts, and print culture as well as modern-day depictions of the supernatural in early America. Students will develop a more complete understanding of competing ideologies and the dynamics of power that informed and were influenced by constructs of race, ethnicity, status, gender, and power.