ATS2579 - Witches and depravity in the medieval and early modern world - 2019

This unit will consider the cultural history of Western Europe from late antiquity through to the beginnings of modernity. We will focus particularly on the persecution of witches, accused sometimes of fornication with the devil or of infanticide and cannibalism, but will look also at other individuals and groups that have been considered sinful, unnatural, freakish or depraved. In so doing, we will explore the long story of the European outsider, and ask what these harsh designations and cruel treatments of people who were marginal or different might tell us about the history of European society as a whole.

Students who have completed the subject will:

1. be familiar with different approaches in the cultural history of the body and deviance
2. know how to critically assess these approaches
3. discuss their merit
4. formulate their own positions on key issues based on a critical engagement with the historiography and relevant primary sources
5. situate their own work within larger historiographical debates

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

History