Witches

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Witches in History, Literature, and Film This course is an entry point to the Cultural Humanities and Arts at Georgetown University. It examines the construction and representation of the witch in the context of history, literature, and film, with an emphasis on historical and cultural products from German-speaking areas and Europe more broadly. The course investigates what is clearly one of the most disturbing and inexplicable occurrences in human history. Unlike the Holocaust, to which the witch hunts are frequently compared, the persecution of witches cannot be viewed as a relatively brief and unusually violent historical anomaly, since it continued over several hundred years; the witch hunts cannot be explained in the context of national specificity since they spanned almost the entire European continent and migrated to early America; nor can these events be blamed on any single “madman.” As a historical phenomenon, the witch persecution defies simplistic explanations and thus lends itself particularly well to the kinds of investigation this course intends. In order to examine the construction and representation of the witch in the context of history, literature, and film, the course explores three specific textual areas: - Historical and trial records on the “Burning Times” in early modern Europe, with an emphasis on the German lands. - Literary works and films with a focus on cultural products from German-speaking areas and Europe such as • fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney • contemporary filmic depictions of the witch theme - Scholarship interpreting and analyzing historical, literary, and other artistic sources COURSE GOALS The complexity of the course topic lends itself well to critically engage, in discussions and in writing, three issues that can be seen as central to a course in the Cultural Humanities and Arts, namely (1) interdisciplinarity, (2) contextualization in history, and (3) the “human experience.” By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to • understand how the Cultural Humanities and Arts have historically shaped our “humanity,” both as a set of common practices that unite us and as a set of distinct traditions that underscore and celebrate our differences. • Exercise critical thinking skills through engagement a variety of historically situated cultural products • Collaborate with peers. • Engage with difference and diversity by thinking across cultures. • Articulate ethical points of view in relation to arts, culture, and interpretation. COURSE MATERIALS • Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History, Edward Peters and Charles Kors, eds. (2nd edition, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001) • Caryl Churchill, Vinegar Tom. Play. • Other readings as well as films will be made available electronically on Canvas