OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
This year sees the 50th anniversary of Sir Keith Thomas’s masterpiece, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971), one of the most significant British historical monographs of the last century. This short conference will celebrate and reflect on Thomas’s achievement as well as publicise new interdisciplinary work on the history of magic and religion.
The event will be live streamed from All Souls College, Oxford. Due a limit on numbers, only a small audience will be invited to attend the conference in-person.
Registrations close 2 September 2021, 15:00 (GMT).
Organised by Michelle Pfeffer (Magdalen College, University of Oxford), Jan Machielsen (Cardiff University), and Robin Briggs (All Souls College, University of Oxford)
Conference Schedule
14:00-15:30
Session 1: The Decline of Magic Today
Chair: Sir Noel Malcolm
Panellists: Robin Briggs, Chris Gosden, Michelle Pfeffer, Will Pooley, Laura Sangha, David Zeitlyn
Registrants will be sent the written papers for this roundtable a week in advance of the conference.
16:00-17:30
Session 2: The Legacy of Religion and the Decline of Magic
Chair: Paul Slack
Panellists: Michael Hunter, Alan Macfarlane, Jan Machielsen, Sophie Page, Alexandra Walsham
17:30-17:45
Session 3: Response from Sir Keith Thomas
Chair: Lyndal Roper
