The Salem Witch Trials
April 5, 2007
These notes are not meant to be a summary of the presentation. Instead, they are my reflections on what was presented.
Until attending this presentation, I would never have considered using the Salem Witch Trials as a way to internationalize a course. But Mr. Amatucci, Mr. Burke, Ms. Cone, Mr. Holt, and Ms. Taber presented a module that expertly internationalized the issue.
History 151 is an inherently international course because one of our goals is to “Identify and explain the European roots of American culture.” Because of this, the decision to begin the presentation with the witch scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail was appropriate. The scene is light and served as a nice way to introduce some concepts that would be explored more seriously.
Earlier in the semester, I had mentioned the Malleus Maleficarum (1486) as well as some other points that Dr. George Cornell made in his “Keynote Address” at this year’s LAND Conference. I was impressed with how the team decided to build on my notes by providing details about the Malleus Maleficarum. Also, instead of just reiterating points that Dr. Cornell made in his talk, the team provided another historical approach by showing a student produced video on witchcraft in post-medieval Europe.
After giving historical background, the team made connections between the European roots and the fears and folklore in Salem, Massachusetts. They ended with a video memorial to the Salem witches.
Food for Thought
 At one point, the team passed out cupcakes. As we began eating our cupcakes, Ms. Taber explained that for one test, the urine of the possessed girls was baked into cakes which were fed to a dog. No one is going to forget that historical footnote!
Farmer Berg Makes an Accusation
Mr. Amatucci graphically demonstrated the idea of false accusations by telling a story about Farmer Berg and his pigs. While telling the story, he sketched the elements of the story on the BlackBoard. The story was humorous and his graphics—while crude—did the job of making the complex issue of cause/effect as it relates to charges of witchcraft accessible.
Module for Early Modern World (HIST 137)
Reflecting on their presentation, I believe that I could incorporate their materials into a module for Early Modern World. Rather than begin with the Salem witch trials, I might start with Europe and then trace the concept of witches to America. If I then ask students to study “witches” or the supernatural in other cultures such as China or among Native Americans, I could further support the following course objective for HIST 137.
- While focusing on the historical period covered by the course, use research and writing to develop an awareness of history as a means of reflecting and evaluating the human experience, both in the past and in contemporary times.
Monty Python Witch Scene
The students used a DVD for to show the witch scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I was able to find the witch scene it on You Tube.
While watching the scene, I thought that it would be a good scene to use to show the Socratic method. When I have wanted to show a video in conjunction with introducing logic and the Socratic method, I have used The Death of Socrates (1953) which was part of the CBS You Are There series; a series that was written by blacklisted writers and included a segment on the Salem witch trials.
On 27 October 2003, Walter Cronkite remembered the series in a PBS commentary.
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The main reason I picked “The Salem Witch Memorial” is because I feel it would go great with a presentation on the Salem witch trials. It gives you great visuals on the area and would be very strong when paired with other information. For instance a presenter could talk about the significance of the names and things written in the stones of the memorial.