Western Esotericism (academia)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article concerns the academic study of Western Esotericism. For the article concerning practices and traditions, see Western esotericism.

Western Esotericism is an academic field of research, scholarship, and education that focuses on the history of European and Middle Eastern Esotericism.

As an academic field, Western Esotericism rose in 1970s in continental Europe and specifically in the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam,^{[citation needed]} with its research methodologies developed by a single professor.^{[citation needed]} It later spread in France in the University of Sorbonne,^{[citation needed]} and it has now reached England at the University of Exeter.

1 Schools
2 Subjects
3 Academic legitimacy
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Schools

Universities that teach the subject include:

University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
University of Sorbonne in France
University of Exeter in the UK

Degrees that can be granted include:

MA in Western Esotericism from University of Exeter, UK.

[edit] Subjects

University courses in Western Esotericism usually include^{[citation needed]} alchemy, astrology, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, Christian Kabbalah, Hermetic Qabalah, Kabbalah, and numerology.

[edit] Academic legitimacy

Studying such subjects as astrology at universities of good reputation may at first seem strange, but it should be noted that degrees in Western Esotericism usually focus on the history of esotericist currents.^{[citation needed]}

The aim of research in Western Esotericism is to discover the interactions between esotericism and society at large and to study the history and spread of esotericist currents and movements.^{[citation needed]}

One could also say that since universities already teach theology and comparative religion, it makes perfect sense to teach the history of esotericism as well.^{[citation needed]}