OXFORD, Miss. – Jeffrey Watt, professor of history, is \n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nPresented each fall to distinguished humanities scholars at \nTitled “The Scourge of Demons: Exorcism, Witchcraft, and \n“In the 1630s, a dozen nuns in a convent in the town of \nWatt is completing a third book on this episode in Roman \nAmong his other teaching honors, Watt received the UM \n“Dr. Watt’s well-received first book, published by Cornell \nWatt joined the Ole Miss faculty in 1988. He previously \nWatt said that he has been greatly influenced in his career \n“David McKillop was the first to pique my interest in the \nCourses Watt teaches include Western Civilization, the
\nrecipient of the 2007 Humanities Teacher Award at the
\nUniversity of Mississippi.
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\nsenior and community colleges throughout the state, the
\naward is part of an annual celebration of Arts and
\nHumanities Month by the Mississippi Humanities Council. In
\nconnection with the honor, Watt delivers a free, public
\nlecture Oct. 11 and receives a $500 honorarium.
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\nthe Inquisition in a Seventeenth-Century Convent,” the
\nlecture is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Tupelo Room of Barnard
\nObservatory on the Oxford campus.
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\nCapri in northern Italy simultaneously suffered from some
\nextraordinary ills. When medical cures proved ineffective,
\nthese women were believed to be the victims of demon
\npossession and witchcraft rather than a natural malady,”
\nWatt said. “The lecture will concentrate on the role played
\nby exorcists who ministered to the ailing nuns, especially
\non whether they were providing relief or exacerbating fears
\nin the convent.”
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\nInquisition. With research interests in the intersection
\nbetween religious developments and social change, Watt
\npreviously authored two books: “The Making of Modern
\nMarriage: “Choosing Death: Suicide and Calvinism in Early
\nModern Geneva” (Truman State University Press, 2001) and
\n“Matrimonial Control and the Rise of Sentiment in Neuch\u00e2
\ntel, 1550-1800” (Cornell University Press, 1992).
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\nCollege of Liberal Arts’ Cora Lee Graham Award for
\nOutstanding Teacher of Freshmen in 1991.
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\nUniversity Press, established him as an important scholar,
\nand his academic star continued to shine,” said Glenn
\nHopkins, dean of UM’s College of Liberal Arts. “Couple that
\nwith his demonstrated excellence in teaching and you see
\nthat he is, indeed, a professor of the first rank.”
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\ntaught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he
\nearned his doctorate. He also holds degrees from Grove City
\nCollege and Ohio University.
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\nby the three advisers he had at the different institutions
\nwhere he studied.
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\nfascinating subject of early modern European history,” he
\nsaid. “Phillip Bebb was instrumental in getting me more
\nspecifically interested in the history of the Reformation.
\nFinally, Robert Kingdon encouraged me to pursue topics that
\nexamined the intersection between religious developments
\nand social change.”
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\nhistory of the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Era of
\nAbsolutism and Enlightenment. He has also taught seminars,
\nboth graduate and undergraduate, on the history of the
\nfamily, the history of witchcraft and the historiography of
\nearly modern Europe.
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