RELC/HIUS 3150 Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature

Ray, Benjamin C

The course will explore the historical scholarship, literary fiction and primary source materials relating to the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692.  How and why did the accusations begin? How and why did they stop? Serious theories and wild speculations abound, both in 1692 and today. Who were the female and male heroes, victims, and villains in this tragic episode? The most gripping personal stories are to be found in the court records and in the literary portrayals by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller. Explore the impact of this small-scale 300 year-old tragedy upon America’s cultural heritage -- how and why did “Salem witchcraft” become part of the American cultural imagination?  The course will raw upon parts of the following works: Entertaining Satan by John Demos, Salem Story by Bernard Rosenthal, and In the Devil’s Snare by Mary Beth Norton, in addition to selected journal articles, documentary films and Arthur Miller’s classic play, The Crucible.  The class will include short Word Press essays on reading materials to be written on important figures and/or topics related to the with trials based entirely on the primary sources.  All class discussion sections will be held ONLINE at the course’s Collab Forum, and hence are listed as TBA. You may sign up for any section. Each discussion section will be open and available for a 3-4 day time frame and readily accessible. The class will make extensive use of the online “Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive” http://salem.lib.virginia.edu which contains all the original court documents and primary accounts. 

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