SA3066 Sorcery and Conspiracy: The Anthropology of Alternate Realities

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 9

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed.

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr M A Demian

Dr M A Demian
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Melissa Demian

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore systems of understanding about the world that challenge the modernist discourse of rationality. Whether in the context of witchcraft and sorcery accusations or of Internet-fuelled conspiracy theories, the theme of hidden powers affecting human lives and events is nearly universal. In this module we will apply the comparative method in anthropology to ask the following questions: Under what historical, economic, and political conditions do occult narratives emerge? How do they manifest in particular ways for particular societies? How can notions of invisible power be analysed ethnographically, when much of the toolkit of anthropology is based in empirical methods of observation? Is anyone really as rational as they think they are, or are apparently irrational systems of explanation consistent with other methods people have developed for making haphazard events more intelligible to themselves?

Assessment pattern

8 hour Take Home Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

Re-assessment

8 hour Take Home Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 lecture and 1 seminar

Scheduled learning hours

57

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

241

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.