- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
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.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
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:
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Open Examination: Multiple choice questions online | 100 |
None
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.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Open Examination: Multiple choice questions online | 100 |
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.
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: