Undergraduate Course: Magic, Science and Healing (SCAN10008)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Social Anthropology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | ?Do not trust those who analyze magic. They are usually magicians in search of revenge.= (Bruno Latour).
Why do anthropologists fetishise magic? Magic, in contrast to science, has come to stand in for the difference that attracts us to so many of the societies that we study. Like science, magic is a way of knowing the world, and yet one of the longest standing debates in anthropology asks whether magic and science produce epistemological worlds that are ultimately incommensurable. Drawing on insights from anthropology and science studies we will consider the following debates: is it possible to distinguish between rationality and belief? How can magic and science be ?political=? Why has the occult persisted in modern society, and why is it that science enchants? We will use ethnographies of witchcraft and sorcery, scientific laboratories, anatomy and immunology, and colonial science to engage with these debates. As we address these questions, we will consider whether the scholarly analysis of magic is ideological: on the one hand rationalising regimes of power over ?others= (the production of expertise), on the other serving as a sleight of hand through which to critique hegemonic narratives of modernity. We end the course with an analysis of magical and scientific modes of healing & shamanism, vaccination and pharmaceuticals.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Visiting students must have prior study in Social Anthropology or closely related subject area; as a general guide we usually require students to have completed three courses at grade B or above. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| tba |
Assessment Information
| One essay of 3,000 to 3,500 words (80%), one course assignment (20%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
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| Transferable skills |
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| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stefan Ecks
Tel: (0131 6)50 6969
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Katie Teague
Tel: (0131 6)50 4001
Email: |
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