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Building a program is a complicated thing; it takes more than just interest (and thus a potential market for courses) and someone with tenure pushing for it.  At public universities in the US, one must be able to demonstrate that there is a market for people with MAs and Ph.D.s in the area one wishes to develop, and right now that's very difficult for the study of magic and esoterism.  The program must also fit with the long-term plan of the college and the mission of the university, and must fall under the rubric of an existing college or department.  And at public universities, it must look viable to the Trustees, legislature and state governor.  So even where there's a will, there sometimes isn't a way. 

Witness, for example, the general decline of Folklore programs in the US since the 1980s.  Administrations persistently starved programs and departments of funds because despite strong interest, the programs ultimately weren't money-makers on the scale of, say, business or computer science departments.  They were often interdisciplinary, and there's not much market for MAs and Ph.D.s with Folklore degrees.  I suspect that programs in magic, esoterism and related fields would suffer the same fate, even if they did get off the ground.

A better option for those who are interested is to work within an established discipline such as anthropology, classics or history, under the guidance of a scholar who has worked in the desired area.  The disadvantage of this is that students must sometimes take a number of classes that have little to do with magic or esoterism; but in the long run, this is a better option, as it produces individuals with strong disciplinary training who can teach and write beyond a narrow area of interest.  It's certainly what I advise my own students to do.

Best,
Sabina Magliocco
Professor
Department of Anthropology
California State University - Northridge
Northridge, CA  91330-8244

Damien wrote:
[log in to unmask]"> 
Has there been any push by those of us within departments, or with
friends with tenure in the pertinent departments to build such a
cirriculum?

Interest is there, which means money is there. I believe that one need
only do a little research to find that there is Scholarly Work being
done on the subject, across the Europe, the UK, and even the US.

I know it may be a bit of a tacky question to ask, but Does anyone
here know anyone with tenure, at their respective universities, who
would be open to the idea of expanding their programs, in that way?

-Damien
--- David Green <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

  
I have no problems with the Exeter MA (though I can see where Chris
is
coming from with his comments). I think that what this exchange
demonstrates is that whilst there are a number of suitable PhD
supervisors in the general area, that there is a dearth of Masters
level
courses with a broad focus on magic. This was brought home just this
afternoon by a student of mine asking if there was a suitable taught
Masters where she could explore contemporary magic and
neo-shamanism.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Damien
Sent: 24 April 2007 15:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] PhD


It is entirely possible that one would be getting the Exeter MA as a
Second degree, leading toward a a PhD run, down the line. As in my
case.

-Damien
--- "Christopher I. Lehrich" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

    
A brief note, after an email exchange. My remarks about the Exeter
program are based on the presumption that if one wants a PhD, it
      
is
    
for 
professional training in the academy; that is, I do not think the
Exeter 
program is a good career choice.

Frankly, I don't really see why anyone would shell out the money
      
to
    
spend several years studying and writing more or less on one's own
in 
order to get a PhD if one did not want to use it for an academic 
credential. But if you want a PhD for some other reason, sure,
Exeter is 
perfectly reasonable.

Chris Lehrich

--
Christopher I. Lehrich
Assistant Professor of Religion
Associate Director, Division of Religious and Theological Studies
Boston University

      
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