Witches, Warlocks, and Wizards Flyer
The Halloween Symposium is happening on Saturday, October 31

The third annual Halloween Symposium on Literature, Lore and More is scheduled to take place once again on Halloween: Saturday, October 31. This year’s theme is ‘Witches, Warlocks, and Wizards.”

Students and scholars will present papers on witches, from La Llorona to Disney from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This video conference symposium will engage with such presentations as “The New Coven: Digital Witchcraft in the Age of the Pandemic,” as found through TikTok and “baby witches.” For the first time ever, the University will include an international presenter, and will conduct the conference entirely online. Up to 250 people can join through Microsoft Teams.

Link to presentations: https://tinyurl.com/yxh37jxq

 

witches-warlocks.pngSchedule of presentations:

Amelia French, Independent Scholar, 10 AM - 10:20 AM
“The New Coven: Digital Witchcraft in the Age of Pandemic”

This presentation explores the ways in which TikTok has reinvented the coven in the Twenty-First Century, as well as how the app has publicized and popularized certain aspects of witchcraft. Additionally, it will investigate the potential lack of credibility and accountability that comes with a virtual, public forum.

Rebecca Day Babcock, University of Texas Permian Basin, 10:20 AM - 10:40 AM
“William Seabrook’s Witches and Their Relevance in the World Today”

William Seabrook, adventurer, travel writer, and occultist, travelled to the ends of the earth to discover mysteries. He met the sorceress Wamba in the jungles of Africa and learned her techniques (Jungle Ways, 1930). In Witchcraft and Its Power in the World Today Seabrook offered rational explanations for curses and other supernatural events. This presentation will connect phenomena that Seabrook investigated 80 years ago and bring it in line with contemporary events.

Mariana Franzon Erazo, University of Texas Permian Basin, 10:40 AM - 11AM
“Witchcraft and Reality”

This presentation forms correlations between fantasy and reality. The world of witchcraft has its own appeal. The fact that, with their magic, witches can change certain aspects of reality makes them bewitching beings. We can see that throughout literature, media, myths, and even historical events, where witches are shown as being different, often representing the duality of evil and good. Enchantment, desire, power, and fear are all embodied in the witch.

Chelsea Delaney, University of Texas Permian Basin , 11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
“Representation of Disney Witches from the Evil Queen to the Snow Queen: The Cold Never Bothered Them Anyway”

The representation of Disney witches has often been negative due their independence and interference of male authority, however postmodernism has led to a change in representation and a needed reanalysis of witches’ past.

Émilie von Garan, University of Toronto, 11:20 AM - 11:40 AM
“Motherhouses and Housemothers: The Architecture of the Witch in Argento’s Le Tre madri”

This paper examines the use and treatment of space as it relates to the witch’s body in Dario Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy, comprised of the films Suspsiria (1977), Inferno (1980), and La Terza Madre (2007).

Jennifer Paxton, University of Texas Permian Basin, 11:40 AM - 12 PM
"Curanderismo: Magical Healing"

Curanderismo, a mixture of Catholic and folk beliefs and Spanish and Native American practice, has existed as long as the two cultures have been in contact. This presentation illustrates the tension between magic and Catholic faith, and modern and traditional medicine.

Maximilien Vis, University of Texas Permian Basin, 12 PM - 12:20 PM
"Un espíritu familiar: el cuerpo por Aura de Carlos Fuentes (The Body Uncanny: Witchery within Carlos Fuentes's Aura)"

This presentation examines the novella through its witchery through Judith Butler's performative lens. The titular character, Aura, becomes a projection of the other character's psyches and identities as she performs throughout the novella. However, playing on the false friend, lo siniestro, the horrific is exemplified through Aura's true nature.

Kate Ellen Edgar, University of Texas Permian Basin, 12:20 PM - 12:40 PM
“A History of the Witch's Hat”

This presentation focuses on how the representation of sexuality in witches depends on reputation, physical appearance, and attire (or absence of it), including the influence of the witch's hat.

Boney Martinez, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, 12:40 PM - 1 PM
“Saving the Weeping Woman and Aristotelian Rhetoric to Prevent Infanticide and Abortion.”

This presentation engages the tales and cultural roots of a witch figure within the Mexican-American oral tradition "La Llorona, The Weeping Woman".