Magic - HIS00128H

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Module summary

Magic is a term which is widely used and which has been part of the belief system of many historical societies. Despite its marginality to current mainstream beliefs in the West, it continues to play an important role in western culture as a source of entertainment, while in many non-western societies magic continues to be accepted as part of the normal order of things. Our objective in this module is to try to get to grips with the concept and operation of magic in a variety of different contexts, drawing on a wide chronological range of case studies, and looking at the topic not just through a normal historical focus but also through a range of approaches including anthropology and modern popular culture.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce students to the practice of comparative history;
• To enable students to acquire skills and understanding of that practice by studying a particular topic or theme; and
• To enable students to reflect on the possibilities and difficulties involved in comparative history
   

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

• Grasp the key approaches and challenges involved in comparative history;
• Understand a range of aspects of the topic or theme which they have studied;
• Be able to use and evaluate comparative approaches to that topic or theme; and
• Have learned to discuss and write about comparative history
   

Module content

Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1, then a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in each of weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of the semester. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW). Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
 
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

1. Fairies through the Ages
2. Magic in Antiquity: Greece, Rome, and Egypt
3. Magic in the Middle Ages
4. The World of the Azande
5. The World of the Renaissance Magus
6. Competing Systems: Magic, Science and Christianity
7. Popular Magic
8. Modern Satanism
    

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Open Examination	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

For formative assessment work, students will produce an essay plan relating to the themes and issues of the module.
 
For summative assessment students will complete an Open Exam in the assessment period.
 

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Open Examination	100.0

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will receive written feedback, which may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss their feedback during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission. For semester 1 assessments, the tutor will be available during student hours of the following semester for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For semester time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading: 

• Owen Davies, Magic: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
• Diane Purkiss, Troublesome Things: A History of Fairies and Fairy Stories (London: Allen Lane, 2000).
• Owen Davies (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).