Conference Details 2003

 

The Department of Historical Studies, Bristol University ran a one-day academic conference on 25th April 2003:

Merchant's Mark, 1538, Bristol Record Office

'Magical Practice and Belief, 1800 - present'

 

There are many humanities scholars working in the field of magic from a wide variety of perspectives, but they have few opportunities to meet and develop their mutual understanding of a complex range of religious, historical, and literary phenomena. Major literary, philosophical, and religious figures and movements of the past few centuries were indebted to various aspects of magical practice and belief. This conference provided a venue for encouraging new scholarship that cuts across a range of disciplines as well as new scholarship in particular disciplines that would be of interest to other scholars of magic.

 

Keynote Lecture
Professor Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol)   'A General Framework for the History of European Magic'

Owen Davies (University of Hertfordshire), 'Witchcraft Accusations in France 1850-1990'

Ann Heilmann (University of Swansea)  'That Blavatsky Woman Started It: Theosophical Desire and the Female Artist in Sarah Grand's New Woman Fiction'

Dionysios Psilopoulos (American College of Greece), 'The Book of the Law, A Vision, and the Equinox of the Gods'

Joanne Pearson (University of Cardiff) , 'Rebel Angels: Magic and the Academy'

Hannah E. Sanders (Norwich School of Art and Design), 'Playing with Power- Teenage Witchcraft in Contemporary Britain from the Screen to the Scene'

Julia Mannherz (University of Cambridge)  'Popular Occultism in Late Imperial Russia'

JulianVayne 'Two Worlds and In-between: Concepts and Use of Space in Modern Magick'. Julian’s paper is now online here

Melvyn Willin (University of Bristol) , 'The Magic of Music in 21st Century Paganism & Witchcraft'

 

Thankyou to all presenters and attendees for making this a very enjoyable and stimulating event.

 

feedback and links to media reviews

 

The conference was partially funded by the University of Bristol Alumni Foundation and the Royal Historical Society, allowing affordable entry for all and free entry for postgraduate students, for which we are most grateful.

 

Portions of this text are Copyright University of Bristol, 2003

 

 

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