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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Magic in the Middle Ages by Universitat de Barcelona

4.6
stars
1,711 ratings

About the Course

Magical thought has always attracted human imagination. In this course we will introduce you to the Middle Ages through a wide conception of magic. Students will have an approach to medieval culture, beliefs and practices from the perspective of History and History of Science. Popular magic, as well as learned magic (alchemy, geomancy and necromancy) will be addressed. Moreover, we will also deal with how eastern practices and texts influenced western culture. In July 2016, the course will contain a brand-new module devoted to astrology. Magic in the Middle Ages offers a captivating overview of medieval society and promotes reflection about certain stereotypes associated with this period. At the end of the course, the students: a) will have overcome the usual prejudices about the Middle Ages, b) will be able to analyze historical documentation from the Middle Ages and recognize the most common patterns of juridical documents regarding witchcraft, and c) will be capable of distinguishing between popular magic and the magic of the learned people; will have a notion of which spiritual practices were allowed in medieval Europe and which ones were related to the devil, and will be aware of the link between a cultural product and the society that produced it. This course is taught in English, although subtitles in English, Catalan and Spanish will also be provided. COURSE SYLLABUS Week 1. Introduction to medieval magic (Pau Castell). Week 2. Magic & Heresy (Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel). Week 3. From Magic to Witchcraft (Pau Castell). Week 4. Magic in Islam (Godefroid de Callataÿ and Sébastien Moureau). Week 5. Astrology & Geomancy (Theo Loinaz, Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel, Godefroid de Callataÿ and Blanca Villuendas). © Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany Magic in the Middle Ages by Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License....

Top reviews

BW

Mar 24, 2018

Helpful and insightful. I try to learn as much about witchcraft and all religions as I can. The first set of videos were well lit and well read. I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more.

NM

Jul 15, 2020

This course was really thorough and interesting. I liked how it covered a range of religions and regions and I think it's great how there are interactive assignments which judge out writing.

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551 - 557 of 557 Reviews for Magic in the Middle Ages

By aouas D

Jan 24, 2021

It good, but unfortunately I could not finish the course due to last exam because have broken links

By Angie S

Sep 17, 2024

Although there was a sheer volume of information, I'm giving one star for the actual execution of this course. The first two weeks were pretty decent and the content was interesting. The third week was horrible in that I wasted my time on an essay in which I followed what was asked of me but "didn't meet the criteria" after the fact. How?? Oh, because it wasn't explained clearly. I see I'm not the only one in the review section that has had an issue with that. The fourth week was absolutely even more terrible than the third, with two gentlemen bombarding us with names and dates at a record-breaking speed without really tying everything together. It was very boring but I decided to stick it out. Fortunately in week five, the essay expectations were clearer but waiting around for peer reviews is not something I'm ever interested in doing again. This particular course as well as Coursera in general are not a good fit for me.

By Melanie W

Jan 3, 2022

I only took Chapter One, but the scoring system didn't work no matter what I did. Interesting material but if the quiz won't function, there's not much point to taking the course.

By erica z

Mar 25, 2024

the martial is good but the test and assignments are horrible not possible to pass them at all its not worth taking at all

By Mary W

Sep 18, 2023

Very difficult course.

By Иданова Д М

Oct 7, 2024

очень нудно