And you thought Twilight being studied at Cambridge was something: This coming fall, another British university, the University of Hertfordshire, will be launching the first-ever Master’s program in the study of Vampire Literature.
Dr. Sam George, the lecturer who’s launching the program, is also hosting an academic conference from April 16th-17th titled “Open Graves, Open Minds: Vampires and the Undead in Modern Culture.” The “undead” in the title refers to “[vampires’] less charismatic undead cousins, zombies, [which] have been dug up in droves to represent various fears and crises in contemporary culture.”
A few of the lectures on the docket: (spoiler alert: there is Twilight involved.)
- “‘You are the most dangerous creature I’ve ever met.’: Female Sexuality as Monstrous in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series.” (Karen Graham)
- “Zombies and Ninjas and Class, Oh My!: Marxist Paradigms in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” (Julia S. Fullman)
- “A Fledgling Biopolitics of Vampire.” (Frann Michel)
- “Bloody hell. Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks. Oh God, I’m English – Translating Spike.” (Dr. Charlotte Bosseaux)
- “The Twilight Saga and the Pleasures of Spectatorship: the Broken Body and the Shining Body.” (Drs. Sarah Artt. and Dr. Sara-Patricia Wasson)
So: Sounds fun and interesting, and maybe even applicable to your real-world pursuits, provided you are Van Helsing.
