CARS 4000 - Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft in Classical Civilizations and the World’s Religions

• Students will be able to use information from primary and secondary sources to provide historical context for a variety of issues related to magical beliefs, practices, and objects in classical civilizations and the world’s religious traditions.
• Students will be able to demonstrate a developing sense of themselves as learners by systematically analyzing their assumptions about magic, building on prior experience, and incorporating feedback to make more effective arguments and nuanced judgments.
• Students will be able to make connections across disciplines and perspectives concerning the different forms of magic and their roles in ancient and modern cultures.
• Students will be able to deliver well-organized and persuasive oral presentations supplemented by visual materials, providing relevant and convincing information organized around a compelling main point and supported by credible evidence.
• Students will be able to use unbiased vocabulary, terminology, and sentence structure appropriate to the academic study of magic and to their audience in their presentations.
• Students will be able to use posture, gestures, eye contact, and voice to enhance the effectiveness of their presentations and make themselves appear polished and confident.
• Students will be able to critically state, describe, and consider an issue or problem related to the history of magic.
• Students will be able to use information from primary and secondary sources related to the history of magic with enough interpretation/evaluation to develop a comprehensive analysis or synthesis.
• Students will be able to analyze assumptions about the history of magic systematically and methodically and to carefully evaluate the relevance of contexts when presenting a position.
• Students will be able to state a specific perspective, thesis, or hypothesis about the history of magic that is thoughtful, recognizes complexities, and acknowledges limitations.
• Students will be able to state conclusions about the history of magic (along with their consequences and implications) logically and in a priority order.
• Students will be able to connect relevant experience and academic knowledge about the history of magic.
• Students will be able to see and make connections across disciplines, including history, archaeology, philology, comparative religion, and gender and sexuality studies.
• Students will be able to prepare presentations using a format, language, or visual representation in ways that enhance meaning.
• Students will be able to adapt and apply face-to-face oral presentation skills to new media (e.g., podcasting).