HIST2805 · History

Luck and Superstition in the History of the U.S.

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Fulfills U.S. History requirement for History Majors. From the earliest days of the United States, forces beyond the natural and divinely ordained supported and threatened the peoples within and without its expanding territorial bounds. This course will focus on how luck and superstition helped to shape the course of the countrys history, using primary and secondary sources, we will take a critical approach to the twin foci of the course. We will examine how the accusation of superstition has been mobilized against particular groups, as well as what kinds of beliefs and practices came to be labeled superstitious, through different eras in the history of the United States. In addition, we will examine the role of luck in this history through gambling, speculation, and games of chance, methods of influencing or altering fortune, and the influence of the environment. Course themes include religion, nature, environment, race, gender, and risk.