Last year, the University of Exeter announced the launch of a new postgraduate degree in magic, the first of its kind in Britain. Exeposé had the honour of sitting in a lecture and chatting with the course convenor, Professor Emily Selove in October 2024, just one month after the degree officially started.
[Magic] ‘has the power to excite people and make them think and debate, which is what the humanities are for’.
Professor Emily Selove
There’s no doubt that when discussing unconventional paths of academia, the language used is of paramount importance. When asked how important the language used was in designing the degree, Prof Selove told us the choices were crucial, not only in the design of the degree but also in the teaching. She shared that she had settled on the name ‘MA Magic and Occult Science’ because the word ‘magic’ ‘has the power to excite people and make them think and debate, which is what the humanities are for.’ The addition of ‘Occult Sciences’ was a nod to the degree’s home being based in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, in that it is a direct translation to ‘the hidden sciences’ in Arabic. Some of the Arabic-speaking Muslim scholars such as Ibn Sīna (Avicenna), who engaged in these types of studies, were the forefathers of modern ‘Western’ science, philosophy, mathematics, and medicine.
Unsurprisingly, this intention to make people think and debate unfolded into global media attention. While the degree has received enthusiastic news coverage, comments on online forums suggest that many have raised questions on how magic relates to decolonization and feminism, as well as the financial value of the course. We must confess that we had similar doubts before engaging with the course.
Students of the postgraduate course are given the opportunity to ‘read against the grain’ – to look for what is not recorded, giving life to the ghosts in the archive.
Yet attending the lecture on how to interact with archives, old books, and manuscripts given by Dr James Downs, Archivist of the Middle East Collections, revealed the brilliance of the course. We were introduced to the Syon Abbey Collection, which comprises of manuscripts chronicling the lives of the Bridgettine nuns who went into exile after Reformation. An account of Sister Barbara’s visions of angels and demons was among one of the supernatural experiences recorded. In order to inquire how human thinking has evolved, we need to explore the journeys taken by individuals, institutions, and communities. Students of the postgraduate course are given the opportunity to ‘read against the grain’ – to look for what is not recorded, giving life to the ghosts in the archive.
It is easy to forget the significance of the role of magical beliefs and the occult given movements of the Protestant Reformation and secularization. Aside from blending with religion, ordinary people employed charms and rituals to ensure good harvests and good health. Papers on Omani witchcraft and folklore, which is now at Exeter’s Special Collection in the Old Library, depicts Westerner John Carter’s anecdotes of spells, jinns, and curses while working in Oman in the 1960s. Western narratives of the occult are key to understanding how colonialism influenced the ‘decline’ of magical beliefs, and students are directed to relevant resources to do so. We now realize the idea that we as modern people have somehow moved beyond magic is simply a myth. While it is known that magic was widely prevalent in the everyday life of medieval society, the course reminds us that practising magic still remains a part of our daily lives right here in modern England and the West.
With decolonisation and feminism being at the core of the Magic MA, Prof Selove encourages an open-mindedness to listen to alternative epistemologies – contrary to the false view that the West is uniquely rational, and that it therefore employs the only valid ways of knowing and learning – which has been used as a justification for acts of violence such as empire. To her, the essence of the humanities is the study of what it takes to be human. A lot of times, this involves coming to terms with the reality that we live in a vast world which doesn’t really make sense. We limit ourselves if we insist that beyond our traditional methodologies, there is nothing legitimate to be explored. After all, it was in fact, a curiosity to engage with the unseen that led us to our greatest literary, philosophical, and scientific advances.
What’s unique about the degree is its interdisciplinary nature. Prof Selove disclosed that the launch of the course was only possible since Exeter is unparallel in having renowned scholars with expertise on the study of magic. There is a huge variety of optional modules available, allowing students to interact with a wide breadth of departments, including history, philosophy, sociology, theology and psychology. The novelty of the course means that nothing is set in stone. In addition to writing a traditional thesis, students are encouraged to employ practice-based and creative methodologies, such as keeping a dream journal, in order to supplement and enhance their traditional research methods. As a matter of fact, the first few weeks are spent defining magic, opening the path for students to shape the trajectory of the study of magic in academia.
In a time where discourse around education is often weaponised in media and politics with terms like ‘Mickey Mouse degrees’ to discern between studies deemed valuable and those deemed a waste of resources, Exeter’s Magic Masters is a welcoming defiance to anti-intellectualism. For far too long, the study of magic has been cast aside due to the modern emphasis on rationalism and scientific methods. We urge ridiculers of the course to be open to challenging their own belief systems – a magical world awaits once you push past that knee-jerk reaction to the occult.
More details on the course can be found here.
