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HIST 640: Witchcraft and the Occult in the Early Modern World
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Readings
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Course requirements
This proseminar will examine witchcraft and the occult in the early modern world. The readings will focus on early modern Europe, but students may write their research papers on topics in late medieval Europe or in other world areas in the early modern period. We will be interested not only in the European witch hunts, but also other topics relating to ideas about the supernatural in this time period. Among our readings topics will be the origins and consequences of the sixteenth-century witch craze, vampires and werewolves, Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, alchemy and astrology, and magic in literature.
This proseminar is intended for seniors or juniors who are History majors, to complete their major requirements, though graduate students are also welcome. Undergraduate students must already have completed History 300 and have upper-class standing to qualify for this course. History 300 may not be taken concurrently with this course.
There are seven required books that will be available at the SFSU bookstore. There will also be readings that will be available on-line, through the course website. Please bring the relevant book(s) to class when we discuss them. On-line readings will be available in .pdf format. These can be read with Adobe Acrobat reader, which can be downloaded for free. When the readings are on-line, please either print out the on-line excerpt or take detailed notes on the text.
Florescu, Radu, and Raymond McNally, In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires, ISBN 0395657830
Ginzburg, Carlo, The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century, ISBN 0801843863
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas, Paracelsus: Essential Readings, ISBN 1556433166
Morton, Peter, The Trial of Tempel Anneke: Records of a Witchcraft Trial in Brunswick, Germany, 1663, ISBN 1551117061
Scholem, Gershom, Zohar: The Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah, ISBN 0805210342
Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, ISBN 0385036434
Wiesner, Merry, Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, ISBN 0618474803
The focus of this course is to prepare a formal paper, based on primary source research. This paper will be due at the end of the course, during finals week. We will meet at that time to discuss the process of writing and to celebrate your achievements. Because it is the center of the course, the paper will comprise one-half of the course grade. The other half will consist of participation in class activities, discussions, and exercises, and a series of assignments designed to lead up to the final paper. Any late assignments will immediately lose points, and they will continue to drop in score the longer they are late.
If you are a graduate student, the final paper should be 20 – 25 pp. in length.
The course grade will be determined as follows:
Participation and attendance: 10%
Paper (5 pp., due week 7): 5%
Research abstract and bibliography (3 – 5 pp., due week 7): 10%
First draft (15 – 20 pp., due week 13): 10%
Research presentation (weeks 14 – 16): 15%
Final paper: 50%
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Attendance policy
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Accommodations for students with disabilities
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Academic integrity
Attendance is mandatory, and will be considered in your participation grade. Class participation will make up a significant percentage of your final grade for the course. You are encouraged to ask questions at any time and are expected to participate in any class activity, discussion, or exercise. An attendance sheet will be passed around at the beginning of every class. You must sign the sheet in order to be counted as present. If you need to arrive late, please make sure you sign in before you leave the room at the end of class. If you need to leave early, please tell the instructor at the beginning of class.
The classroom is a special environment in which students and faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor, and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. Differences of viewpoint or concerns should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process.
It is University policy to provide, on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities that may affect their ability to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. Students with documented disabilities must register with the DPRC to facilitate the reasonable accommodations process. Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations are encouraged to contact the instructor. The Disability Programs and Resource Center is available to facilitate the reasonable accommodations process. The DPRC, located in SSB 110, can be reached by telephone at 338-2724 (voice/TTY) or by e-mail at dprc@sfsu.edu.
Academic integrity is a fundamental principle of the university. Academic dishonesty, in the form of cheating or plagiarism, represents an attempt to gain an unfair advantage and it is expressly prohibited by the San Francisco State University Student Code of Conduct. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, gaining unfair access to answers to exams, fabrication of work, helping other students to cheat, etc. Plagiarism can be defined as using another person’s words or work without proper acknowledgment (click here for more information on avoiding plagiarism). Students who are found to have cheated or plagiarized will be subject to discipline ranging from receiving a failing grade for the specific assignment to referral to the Office of Judicial Affairs and Student Discipline to possible suspension or expulsion. All instances of academic dishonesty are reported to the Department Chair and College Dean. Students are responsible for knowing the SFSU regulations concerning cheating and plagiarism, found in the University Bulletin and online here.