121-062 Sorcery and the Anthropology of Evil

Formerly available as 136-012 or 279/379. Students who have completed 136-012 or 136-279/379 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

This subject entails a cross-cultural and historical investigation of the beliefs and activities seen as manifestations of evil in the world, from sorcery and witchcraft in Africa, the Pacific and the Americas to witchcraft revivals and 'witch hunts' in the modern world. Students completing this subject should be able to make a critical analysis of the ways in which anthropologists have attempted to explain the phenomena in question; understand the nature of beliefs and practices about supernatural malevolence in relation to arguments about rationality; and present some arguments about the interpretation of evil in society in relation to issues of race, class, gender and colonialism.