| SES # | Topics | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | |
| 2 | Videos and Discussion, Spirit Possession | Class Reader: articles by Slyomovichs & Ong Start Covington, Sand Mountain. |
| 3 | Film, The Holy Ghost people (PDF) | Covington, all. |
| 4 | Discuss Film and Covington Reading (PDF) | |
| 5 | Film, Secrets of the Psychics | Braude. Radical Spirits. Chapters 1-4. |
| 6 | Film, Telegrams From the Dead (PDF) | Braude. Chapters 5-8. |
| 7 | Discuss Spiritualism | |
| 8 | Divination and Magic | Reader Christian. |
| 9 | Discuss Visionaries (PDF) | Levack. Chapters 1-3 Reader Briggs. "Projection of Evil." |
| 10 | Witchcraft Film, Strange Beliefs | Levack. Chapters 4-5. |
| 11 | Heresy, Millenialism and Witch Hunting Class Reports | Levack. Chapters 6. Reader Briggs. "Men against Women." Willis. |
| 12 | Discuss European Witch Hunt Class Reports | |
| 13 | Europe 2 Villages | Levack. Chapters 7-8. Boyer & Nissenbaum. Chapter 1. |
| 14 | Europe 3 Gender Class Reports | |
| 15 | Film, Three Sovereigns for Sarah, Part I | B&N. Chapters 2-5 Reader Karlsen & Rosenthal. |
| 16 | Three Sovereigns, part II | |
| 17 | Visit Salem Village (Danvers) (PDF) | B&N. Chapters 6-8. |
| 18 | Discuss Salem Class Reports | Reader Showalter, Acocella, Rothenberg, Grann. |
| 19 | Salem 2 Class Reports | |
| 20 | Film on Space Alien Possession (PDF) | Reader Loftus & Ketcham, and Ofshe & Watters. |
| 21 | Discuss Space Aliens, Split Personality (PDF) | |
| 22 | Film, Search for Satan | |
| 23 | Satanic Conspiracies, Recovered Memory | |
| 24 | Film, Divided Memories | |
| 25 | Divided Memories, Discussion | |
| 26 | Wrap-up |
Table of Contents
Study Materials
Readings
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In addition to the following bibliography, a listing of the assigned readings by class session is available.
Required Readings
Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain. New York, NY: Penguin (Non Classics), 1996. ISBN: 9780140254587.
Braude, Ann. Radical Spirits. 2nd ed. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780253215024.
Levack, Brian. The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe. 2nd ed. New York, NY; London, UK: Longman Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780582080690.
Boyer, P., and S. Nissenbaum. Salem Posessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974. ISBN: 9780674785328.
Slyomovich, Susan. "Ritual Grievance: the Language of Woman?" Woman and Performance 5, no. 1 (1990).
Ong, Aihwa. "The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia." American Ethnologist 15 (1987).
Christian, William. Visionaries: The Spanish Republic in the Reign of Christ. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999, pp. 13-40, 243-254, and 287-301. ISBN: 9780520219489.
Briggs, Robin. Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1998, pp. 137-157, and 259-286. ISBN: 9780140144383.
Willis, Deborah. Malevolent Nurture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995, pp. 1-43. ISBN: 9780801481949.
Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 67-75. ISBN: 9780521558204.
Karlsen, Carol. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 1998, pp. 110-112. ISBN: 9780393317596.
Showalter, Elaine. Hystories. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1998, pp. 159-170, and 189-201. ISBN: 9780231104593.
Acocella, Joan. "The Politics of Hysteria," The New Yorker, April 6, 1998.
Rothenberg, Daniel. Gringo Organ Sellers.
Grann, David. "Stalking Dr. Steere Over Lyme Disease." The NY Times, June 17, 2001.
Loftus, Elizabeth, and Katherine Ketcham. The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse. New York, NY: St. Martin's Griffin, 1996, pp. 20-30. ISBN: 9780312141233.
Ofshe, Richard, and Ethan Watters. Making Monsters. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996, pp. 155-175. ISBN: 9780520205833.
Additional Readings
In addition to the required readings for the course, following sources for background reading and the assignment on witchcraft theories are suggested.
Briggs, Robin. Witches and Neighbors.
Cohn, Bernard. Europe's Inner demons.
Demos, John. Entertaining Satan.
Levack, Brian, ed. Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology, v.3, Witch-hunting in Early Modern Europe: General Studies.
Levack, Brian, ed. New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology, v.4, Gender and Witchcraft.
Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story.
Sharpe, James. Instruments of Darkness.
Willis, Deborah. Malevolent Nurture.