If you’ve ever dreamed of going to Hogwarts and getting a wizarding education, you are in luck. The University of Exeter is now offering a new graduate program for people who love spooky season all year long.
Starting next year, you will be able to earn a master’s degree in Magic and Occult Science at the University of Exeter in the U.K. The one-year program will be led by Professor Emily Selove. Selove is an associate professor in the University’s Medieval Arabic Language and Literature Department.
Selove is also the convener of the University’s Centre for Magic and Esotericism, which explores “the history of the magic, occult and esoteric literatures using a ground-breaking approach by studying many different cultures and languages all in dialogue with one another.”
Selove says that the new master’s program will acknowledge that Western culture owes a debt to other traditions that have sometimes been erased in discussions about science and rationality.
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“This MA will allow people to reexamine 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,” says Selove in a press release. “Magic and the occult have been and remain an enormous part of Western culture, and it is foolish to deny this or to refuse to take it seriously. Rigorous study of these subjects allow us to reexamine the relationship of humans to the natural world and of different human cultures to one another.”
In the program, students can study topics like dragons, King Arthur, Islamic thought, the philosophy of psychedelics, women in the Middle Ages, the history of witchcraft and culture in early modern Europe and paleography. Paleography is the study of historical writing systems and artifacts, such as scrolls or even ancient graffiti. The master of arts degree is also designed to enhance creative and analytical thinking, resilience, motivation and curiosity.
Other course programs are still being developed. The university says the program in Magic and Occult Science will prepare students for a wide range of future careers. This could involve working in schools, libraries, museums, publishing houses or arts organizations.
The program begins in September 2024. Better start getting that application ready!
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