History 291H: European witchcraft in comparative perspective

Witchcraft belief and persecution pose a fascinating problem of understanding and explanation for historians. Students in this course will learn about what Europeans believed about witchcraft, how these beliefs varied according to place, time, and social class, and how these beliefs--combined with other factors--led to the judicial murder of at least 40,000 women and men during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By studying this concrete example, participants will explore the ways in which historians come to represent and explain what happened in the past, and develop their own skills in historical research and writing.

History 291H is being taught by Prof. Brian Ogilvie. This website contains the syllabus, course calendar, and a list of WWW resources.

Electronic Reserve
Many of the readings for this course are available on the Library's pilot Electronic Reserve system. To access these readings, you need the password that was handed out in class. If you forgot the password, please e-mail Prof. Ogilvie (e-mail address below).
Go to Electronic Reserve

Where and when:
Tues. & Thurs., 2:30-3:45, Herter 640

Important dates:
March 15: Peer critique #1 due (change due to snow day)
March 27: Annotated bibliography due
April 17: Secondary source critique due
April 24: Peer critique #2 due
May 3 & 8: Presentation of research; first drafts of final paper due
May 22: Final paper/course portfolio due

Handouts:
Handouts from the course will be posted on this page in PDF format (see below). If a handout is not available in electronic form, please see Prof. Ogilvie for a copy.

4/4: Secondary source critique assignment (PDF)
3/8: Peer review #1 instructions (PDF)
2/27: Final project assignment (PDF)
2/22: Primary source analysis assignment (PDF)
2/1: 1-page essay instructions (PDF)
2/1: Secondary bibliography assignment (PDF)
2/1: Primary bibliography assignment (PDF)
1/30: Syllabus (PDF) (Note: the printed syllabus has a couple of errors; check the calendar for corrections)

Please note: Some files on this website are available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) form. To use them, you need to have the free Acrobat Reader program installed on your computer. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it from Adobe.