A deep and violent fear of witches took hold of various European communities in the years between 1450 and 1700. This course examines a number of different witch panics across Europe - with a final stop in Salem, Massachusetts - and investigates the necessary conditions for such intra-community terror. It will address a number of different factors which contributed to this fear of one's neighbors: environmental change, gendered anxiety, economic downturns, and religious tension. Open only to first-year students and sophomores.