Witchcraft, Rituals and Colonialism (SA)

Subject associations
SPA 366 / AMS 326 / LAO 366 / GSS 364
Term
Fall 2019
Instructors
Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús
Registrar description

This course will explore witchcraft and rituality in the Americas through accusations and identity claims. We will look at how witchcraft has been used in colonial and imperial contexts to control, sanction, and extract power from women and marginalized groups in different periods, as well as how people make claims to witchcraft and rituals as a way to thwart domination. Topics include: shamanism in Latin America, the Mexican Inquisition, Afro-Latinx and Caribbean diasporic religious systems, and the contemporary social media ritual activism of "bruja feminisms." Students will be introduced to theories of race, gender, and sexuality.

AAS Subfield
GRE