Enrolments for 2021 have closed.
A History of Magic: From the Magi to Merlin
Undergraduate | MAQ-AHIX3202 | 2021
Course information for 2021 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 18 weeks
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
A History of Magic: From the Magi to Merlin
About this subject
On successful completion of this subject, you will be able to:
- Identify evidence for the understanding and practice of magic from the ancient to early modern world.
- Assess the ways in which definitions of "magic", labelling of magical and religious phenomena, and the cultural processes via which they developed, affects our study of them.
- Consider critically the impact of later academic and popular discourses on the scholarly study and general understanding of ancient and medieval magic.
- Classify and interpret textual, documentary, and artifactual material in terms of technical or genre-based aspects, types of discourses, and their aims ad functions.
- Effectively and with academic integrity utilise communication skills appropriate to academic written and oral presentations.
- A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials.
This unit surveys the history of magic from the ancient world to the present day, covering cultures from the Ancient Near East, Egypt and the Graeco-Roman world, Late Antiquity, Medieval and Renaissance Europe, down to the early modern world, as well as aspects of cognitive psychology such as perceptual illusions and delusional beliefs. It provides thorough coverage of the way magic has been defined, understood, and used in these civilisations, and the way it has been conceived and studied in the history of modern scholarship over the past two centuries. Students will focus closely on the material sources for ancient magic, especially handbooks of spells and amulets on papyrus. There will also be close consideration of the construction of magic as an antithesis to religion in the ancient and modern worlds, and a focus on the role, use, and understanding of magic in wider historical, literary, and scientific contexts.
- Essay Introduction (10%)
- Magical Spell (15%)
- Academic Integrity Quiz (0%)
- Take home examination (35%)
- Major Essay (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Prior study
You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:
Others
NCCW (pre-2020 units) AHIS355
Pre-requisite 130cp at 1000 level or above
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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