Jason Coy, chair of the History Department, published a new book in May 2020 with the University of Virginia Press.
Entitled The Devil’s Art: Divination and Discipline in Early Modern Germany, it explores the activities of soothsayers and fortune tellers in Germany, showing how villagers relied on these magical practitioners to tell fortunes, find lost and stolen goods, and to diagnosis and remedy witchcraft. As the book shows, these kinds of folk magic remained popular until well into modern times despite clerical disapproval and official repression.
Dr. Coy’s research interests include the cultural history of magic and witchcraft and the social history of banishment and migration in early modern Europe. He teaches our popular 100 and 200 level courses “Magic, Religion, and Science in the West,” and “Witchcraft in the Modern World,” as well as several upper level and graduate courses covering similar themes in greater detail.
Congratulations on your new book, Dr. Coy!