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79618-01 - Research seminar: Dealing with Ghosts, Spirits, and Magic in African History (4 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This research seminar for MA students explores the spiritual as a historical force. Modern historiography has rethought historical agency on multiple levels, foregrounding how subaltern actors as well as non-human forces have shaped historical trajectories. Yet spiritual agency has proven more difficult to incorporate. With several notable exceptions, much political, social, and environmental history operates with a broadly secular framework: the spiritual is occasionally mentioned, sometimes dismissed, often rationalized—but rarely taken seriously on its own terms. Interrogating important previous conversations on the metaphysical in anthropology and religious studies, we seek ways of “re-spiriting” historiography. This is a slippery slope, both in terms of methodology (how do we find ghosts in historical sources?) and research agendas (given the centrality of the racist notions of “African superstition” in European knowledge production). How can historians open themselves to broader notions of agency by taking spiritual agency seriously? What counts as evidence in such inquiries? And how can we engage spiritual realities without slipping into exoticization or epistemological relativism? The seminar will be strongly research focused and experimental, revisiting older strands of research and exploring new avenues based on primary sources. In addition to missionary and early ethnographic texts, we will be dealing with less conventional sources, such as objects and fictional writing. |
| Bibliography | An Yountae (2024). The Coloniality of the Secular: Race, Religion, and Poetics of World-Making. Duke University Press. Birgit Meyer (2024). 'Idols' in the museum: Legacies of missionary iconoclasm. In Image Controversies: Contemporary Iconoclasm in Art, Media, and Cultural Heritage (pp. 108-130). De Gruyter. David Gordon (2012). Invisible Agents: Spirits in a Central African History. Ohio University Press. |
| Comments | The research seminars are designed exclusively for Master’s students. Compared to standard seminars, they offer more scope and time for research-oriented learning. At the same time, they place greater demands on students in terms of independent research, the analysis of research literature—including works of a theoretically demanding nature—and working with sources. Research seminars can serve as a basis for writing seminar papers and also for preparing a Master’s thesis. |
| Admission requirements | Students in History (MSF and MSG), Eastern European History and African Studies have priority. Students of Social Anthropology, Global European Studies, Theology, Social Anthropology, Critical Urbanisms and related programmes are also welcome. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 14.09.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 21.09.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 28.09.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 05.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 12.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 19.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 26.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 02.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 09.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 16.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 23.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 30.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 07.12.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 14.12.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Students are asked to present a primary source. In addition, we will systematically develop outlines for individual research projects (seminar papers or MA theses). |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |