Department of History

College of Humanities and Sciences

Current StudentsGive

Witch Studies Symposium

nathan snaza

Date: Thursday, Oct 22, 2026

Start time: 10:00 a.m.

End time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Cabell Library, room 250 | 901 Park Ave.

Audience: VCU students, staff, faculty and members of the community

This Symposium invites the VCU and wider community to learn about Witch Studies, an emerging transdisciplinary field that explores intersections among knowledge practices; religious, spiritual, and magical traditions; healing practices; politics, gender, race, colonialism, ecology, creativity, aesthetics, and more.

This one-day symposium features research presentations by VCU undergraduate and graduate students, a faculty roundtable on pedagogy, and a keynote lecture by Nathan Snaza, Ph.D., University of Richmond and author of “Beyond Reclaiming: Summoning Witch Studies.”

Specific research presentations may address subjects such as histories of health care and healing; feminist epistemologies; ecospirituality; new religious movements including Vodou, Spiritualism, Theosophy; “occulture” (a coinage referring the culture of occultism); “rejected knowledges”; myth and folklore; metaphors of power and persecution; magic and technology; economics and commercialization; and the supernatural.

Attendees are welcome to come for part or all of the event. More details and registration coming soon. 

Schedule

10-10:15: Welcome remarks: Dr. Mimi Winick

10:15-10:50: Undergrad Student Research Panel (2 papers)

  • Emily Tyler (Anthropology), "Tea & Tarot: Spiritual and Religious Solidarity in Northern Idaho"

  • Katie Rasmussen (English), “"Pagans, Pelagius, and Postcolonialism: The Changing Landscape of Irish Belief and Practice"

11-12: Faculty roundtable on pedagogy 

Participants: Dr. Carolyn Eastman (VCU History), Tesora Garcia, MFA (VCUarts Photography & Film), Dr. Becca Klaver (James Madison University, English) Dr. Brooke Newman (VCU History), Dr. Ryan Smith (VCU History)

12-1: Lunch

1:15-2:45: Graduate Student Research Panel (3 papers)

  • Andre Medina (MA Art History), “On Vocation: Erotic Desire, Religious Calling, and Political Necessity in the Writings of Christopher Larkin and Geoff Mains”

  • Maggie Bertsche (MATX), “Spells for What They Wouldn't Teach: Fantasy Witchcraft, Sex Education, and Public Memory in Grady Hendrix's Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”

  • Logan Dandridge, MFA (MATX), “Calypso”

3-4:15: Keynote: Dr. Nathan Snaza, “Beyond Reclaiming: Summoning Witch Studies”

4:15-6:00: Reception with poetry reading

Sponsor(s): Sponsored by the Spirituality, Care, and Culture Lab; the Center for the Study of Global Religions and Spiritualities; the Humanities Research Center; the College of Humanities and Sciences; the School of World Studies; and the Powell-Edwards Fund for Religion and the Arts. Organized by Mimi Winick, Ph.D. (Powell-Edwards Distinguished Professor for Religion and the Arts at VCU), Grace Minson (Spring 2026 VCU graduate in Religious Studies) and Caitlin Phillips (Art History major at VCU).

Event contact: Mimi Winick, Ph.D., mpwinick@vcu.edu