Reasoning & Writing in the College:

CAS 105 Summer 2004

The Witch-Craze: From Malleus Maleficarum to Harry Potter
Instructor: Jennifer Ailles
CRN #10109 MWR 1:15-4:15

Witches are often vilified, discriminated against, and hunted down because they represent the mystical borders of a society and the malevolent (un)known. Witches are also celebrated as benevolent figures whose magic is an extension of the untainted natural world. What makes a person a witch or makes a society label someone as a “witch”? How are witches different from other marginalized figures? What makes particular societies go “crazy” over witches? In this course we will examine how witches and the witch-craze have been represented in film and literature over time and in different milieus. Some of the works we will discuss will be Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, The Witches of Eastwick, Disney cartoons, The Crucible, and The Blair Witch Project. We will also look at classical antecedents such as the goddess Diana and Hecate along with cultural documents including the Malleus Maleficarum, Newes From Scotland, transcripts from witch trials, and the work of H. R. Trevor-Roper that have been highly influential in how witches and their persecution have been understood and represented historically. Through critical and primary readings, film screenings, class discussion, and three written essays, we will address issues of gender, race, class, and cultural politics that are raised through examining representations of witches. Students will be required to engage critically with the material and to actively strengthen their argumentative skills though journals, peer reviews, essay revisions, self-assessments, and in-class writing workshops.