The University of Exeter has announced that a degree in magic will be offered in 2024, making it one of the first in the UK.
The “recent surge in interest in magic” prompted the creation of the “innovative” MA in Magic and Occult Science, according to the course leader, reports BBC.
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According to the management, it will provide an opportunity to explore the history and influence of witchcraft and magic on society and science across the world, it said
The one-year curriculum will begin in September 2024.
Academics from history, literature, philosophy, archaeology, sociology, psychology, theatre, and religion will demonstrate the importance of magic in both the West and the East.
It is one of the few postgraduate programmes in the UK that combines the study of the history of magic with such a diverse range of other areas, according to the university, the release also said.
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“A recent surge in interest in magic and the occult inside and outside of academia lies at the heart of the most urgent questions of our society,” said Prof Emily Selove, course leader.
“Decolonisation, the exploration of alternative epistemologies, feminism and anti-racism are at the core of this programme,” she said.
The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies will provide the course, the report also said.
“This MA will allow people to re-examine the assumption that the West is the place of rationalism and science, while the rest of the world is a place of magic and superstition,” said Selove.
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The degree might prepare students for jobs in teaching, counselling, mentoring, historic and museum work, library work, tourism, arts groups, or the publishing sector, among other fields, the university said.
Dragons in western literature and art, the King Arthur tale, palaeography, Islamic philosophy, archaeological theory and practise, and the representation of women in the Middle Ages are among the modules available.