FRN 318 - From Witchcraft to Hysteria

Course Units: 1

What is the common thread between witches, mystics, and hysterics? All these categories were used to describe women from different periods who did not fit into the roles that society had planned for them. Considered strange, queer, and dangerous, they were either cast out outside of cities or locked up in asylums. What about these women made the rest of society so scared of them? What did they mobilize within their practices and bodies that others could not bear to look at or understand? In this class, we will explore these
questions through a series of fiction, films, and theoretical texts. Prerequisite(s): FRN 201 CC: LCC, HUM ISP: GSWS