Potter prompts course in witchcraft

The 12-week course at Adelaide University will explore the witchdoctors of Africa, shamans from the Amazon and Zambezi valleys, witches from the 16th century and others who practise magic rituals.

Just two students have signed up so far, but the university said there had been dozens of inquiries.

In the UK, some groups and individuals criticised the Harry Potter series, saying it could encourage young people to dabble in the occult.

Some schools and teachers took the decision to ban the books in class and a toy shop - run by a Christian - refused to stock Harry Potter merchandise.

Questions to be answered

The public course in Australia will be led by anthropologist Dr Kingsley Garbett, who has recently retired from Adelaide University.

"Witches, sorcerers, magicians and shamans are credited universally with extraordinary powers to kill or cure, to bring rain, to make crops grow and often to foresee the future," said Dr Garbett.

"People credited with such ritual powers are often poor, politically weak and, frequently, women."

These factors prompted many questions, said Dr Garbett.

"How do the politically weak and marginal come to be credited with such extraordinary powers?

"How do they justify and protect their powers against the sceptical and the curious?

"These questions and more will be answered during the course," he said.