WITCHES, GENDER, AND RELIGION
Professor Jane Ward
scroll down for an introduction to the course
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scroll down for an introduction to the course
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Are Witches Real? A Course Description
The Witch is a figure whose experiential healing practices and intimate relationship with the natural world threaten the intersecting forces of patriarchy, capitalism, settler colonialism, and Christianity. She listens to plants and animals and the changing of seasons. She is the safe-keeper of stolen knowledges
and the collective wisdom of her ancestors. She speaks with sharp authority. She claims possession of her body, her sexuality, and all that has been degraded under the banner of femininity. She ages without shame, her body bearing the marks of her labor. She attends to birth and death and the healing of collective trauma. For these reasons, the Witch has been maligned and tortured and killed, across continents and centuries. Yet the Witch lives on, still practicing. This course is an examination of her work, her persecution, and her resilience. Please explore this website. You will find reading and assignments by clicking on the course tabs. UCR Students: We will meet every Thursday, 3:30-4:30pm for a zoom-based Witching Hour. Our first meeting is October 1st at 3:30pm. |
Using a postcolonial feminist lens, this course explores a broad and varied range of practices--from midwifery to labor strikes, goddess-worship to environmental justice projects--that have been the work of the Witch. We will also explore examples of pre-Christian or Christian hybrid religions associated with witchcraft, including vodou (Yoruba tradition), shamanism of North Asia and Central America, curanderismo (Mexico/U.S.), and paganism (Europe). 
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A Note on DISTANCE LEARNING DURING A PANDEMIC
Welcome to the emergency version of GSST 104! A few important notes:
I wasn't planning for an online version of this course, and the UC system is not set up to provide supported online education. Online courses require faculty training, a lot of tech support, more flexible and multi-use software than Blackboard, and most importantly, they require that all students have access to the technology they need to be successful. Since many of these elements are not in place, what we will be doing together is probably best understood as “learning during an emergency.” We will do our very best to stay connected, to be flexible and patient, and to lovingly recognize that this is a stressful time for all of us, students and professors alike. Our number one goal will be to take of ourselves and each other.
What an apt goal in a feminist seminar on witches!
I am here for you and would love to know about what kind of support you need (technical, emotional, basic needs: food access, housing, healthcare, mental healthcare). Please reach out to me: janew@ucr.edu
Welcome to the emergency version of GSST 104! A few important notes:
I wasn't planning for an online version of this course, and the UC system is not set up to provide supported online education. Online courses require faculty training, a lot of tech support, more flexible and multi-use software than Blackboard, and most importantly, they require that all students have access to the technology they need to be successful. Since many of these elements are not in place, what we will be doing together is probably best understood as “learning during an emergency.” We will do our very best to stay connected, to be flexible and patient, and to lovingly recognize that this is a stressful time for all of us, students and professors alike. Our number one goal will be to take of ourselves and each other.
What an apt goal in a feminist seminar on witches!
I am here for you and would love to know about what kind of support you need (technical, emotional, basic needs: food access, housing, healthcare, mental healthcare). Please reach out to me: janew@ucr.edu
