This unit presents witchcraft as a topic integral to the anthropology of religion, relevant both to earlier generations of scholars attempting to study religion objectively and to present-day scholars exploring witchcraft as a cultural phenomenon in the industrialised West. In this unit, students approach the study of witchcraft from both angles, asking: Why have narratives of witchcraft circulated so successfully in different cultural contexts for long historical periods? In what ways do pagan groups borrow from mainstream ideologies and practices, and in what ways subvert them? How can anthropologists investigate the interplay between religious practices and their representations? -- Course Website
Instructor: Dr Matt Tomlinson
