CREMS University of York Magic and Witchcraft Conference: ‘What is a Witch?’
25 – 26 June 2025 | University of York
Call for Papers, deadline – 4 March 2025
The CREMS University of York Magic and Witchcraft Conference is now inviting abstracts for 2025. This year’s theme is inspired by conversations begun at the Witchcraft and Authority Conference in Copenhagen, where it quickly became clear that while the prosecution of witchcraft was bound up with questions of authority, what was meant by a ‘witch’ varied considerably between regions, and even between decades. The result is that, at times, we speak across each-other in our research, drawing conclusions based on conflicting definitions and parameters of what we study.
We therefore propose to re-open the discussion on what we, as scholars, mean when we refer to witchcraft. In short: what is a witch?
Papers are invited which address this question, and particularly those looking at the period from Antiquity to 1850. Suggested sub-themes include, but are not limited to:
- Legal definitions of witchcraft: intra- and international comparisons particularly welcome
- Folk conceptions of witchcraft: What constituted the crime of witchcraft in popular perception, and who were perceived as its practitioners?
- Maleficium: is real-world harm a necessary component of the definition of a witch?
- Magic beyond the Christian paradigm: is the term ‘witch’ meaningful outside Christian cultures?
- The feminist lens: Does the identification of historical witchcraft as “gender-based persecution” remain applicable to the definition of the historical witch?
- Literary / cultural portrayals of the witch
Abstracts of 200-300 words should be sent to magicwitchcraft2024@gmail.com by 14th of March 2025. Please include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and your intention to attend in person or online.
Keynote speakers
Julian Goodare (University of Edinburgh) – What is a Witch in Scottish Literature?
Rita Voltmer (University of Trier) – Beyond the Village Witch: The many faces of the witch in European witch trials
Ceri Holbrooke (University of Hertfordshire) – Unstoppering the Witch Bottle
Organisers
Debora Moretti (University of Hertfordshire) and Tabitha Stanmore (University of Exeter)
Image: Wiki Commons – CC 4.0