Witches on Screen: the Cultural Significane of Spiritual Specialists

Catalog description

In the West, the witch has long been an important cultural figure. in cinema, "witches," as well as sorcerers, shamans, and other spiritual specialists, are both overrepresented as symbols and underrecognized as practitioners. In this class, we will question what the "witch" represents-a stereotype that may signify a threat to world order - and explore spiritualism as an ethical, political, and healing practice. We will investigate why "witches" have been the target of global mas persecutions and trace these persecutions back to the colonization of the so-called "New World" during the early modern period. Just as important as investigating the cultural symbol of the witch in Western film and literature is looking toward shamanic practices, ritual, mythology, and folk knowledge in Indigenous communities and the global South and East, and we will watch films and read texts originating from these communities and locales. Possible guests will include filmmakers, performance artists, activists, shamans, and healing practitioners.