WINONASTATEUNIVERSITY

PROPOSAL FOR REVISED COURSES

Department ______English______Date _____3/23/04______

If proposed course change requires A2C2 and/or graduate Council approval, i.e., not considered a notification, complete and submit this form with the appropriate number of copies. Refer to Regulation 3-4, Policy for Changing the Curriculum, for complete information on submitting proposals for curricular changes.

A.Current Course Information

____327______Genres in Literature______1-2______

Course No.Course Name Credits

This Proposal is for a(n)___X___ Undergraduate Course______Graduate Course

Applies to:___X__ Major___X___Minor ______University Studies

_____ Required_____ Required ___X__ Not for USP

_X __ Elective__X__ Elective

Prerequisites ______None______

Grading___X___ Grade only______P/NC only______Grade and P/NC Option

Frequency of offering ______yearly______

Proposed Course Information. (Please indicate only proposed changes below.)

______1-3______

Course No.Course Name Credits

This Proposal is for a(n) ______Undergraduate Course______Graduate Course

Applies to______Major______Minor ______University Studies

_____ Required_____ Required ______Not for USP

_____ Elective_____ Elective

Prerequisites ______

Grading______Grade only______P/NC only______Grade and P/NC Option

Frequency of offering ______

B.If the proposal requests any changes in the course description as listed below, please list both the present description and the proposed change.

1.Catalog description.

2.Course outline of the major topics and subtopics.

3.Basic instructional plan and methods utilized.

4.Course requirements (papers, lab work, projects, etc.) and means of evaluation.

C.Rationale for the changes proposed.

D.Description of any impact of this proposal on other departments, programs, majors, or minors.

E.Description any impact that this proposal may have on the University Studies Program.

Attach an Approval form.

Department Contact Person for this Proposal:

______Debra ______

Name (please print) Phonee-mail address

NOTE: What follows below is the current description for the course as a two-credit offering. If and when the course is offered for three credits, the course would cover the same topics as the two-credit version; however, the three-credit version would entail additional texts, a formal literary analysis and an annotated bibliography. The additional material and assignment have been added and are shaded in gray.

  1. Course Description

1. Catalog Description: English 327—Genres in Literature

Study of a specific genre such as the sonnet, folklore, memoirs, the novel, etc., through selected readings, cultural contexts, and critical approaches. This course would be offered for 1-3 variable credits.

2. Course Outline of the Major Topics and Subtopics

English 327, Genres in Literature: The Vampire in Literature

Please note that the sample outline/syllabus offers just one of a number of possible topics for English 327 (see catalogue description above.) The following outline represents Genres in Literature: The Vampire in Literature.

  1. Introduction to the genre and the myth
  2. The Vampire in Romantic Literature

a)gothic literature

b)the sublime

  1. Femmes Fatales

a)the lesbian vampire

b)Role of women in 19th century England

c)The New Woman

  1. The Pre-Raphaelite Vampire

a)The Pre-Raphaelite Woman

b)The Virgin and the Whore

  1. Vampirism as Social Metaphor

a)Zola and Realism

b)The Vampire and Social Darwinism

  1. The Vampire and Homosexuality

a)Havelock Ellis and the rise of the Sexologists

b)Trial of Oscar Wilde

c)Decadent Movement

  1. Vampires and Anti-Semitism

a)Stoker and Decadence

b)Max Nordau and theories of race and degeneration

3. Basic Instructional Plan and Methods:

Lectures, discussion, presentations, midterm, final.

4. Course Requirements and Means of Evaluation:

Requirements:

  • Reading of Texts:

John Polidor, The Vampyre

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Christabel”

Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”

Sheridan Le Fanu, “Carmilla”

Bram Stoker, Dracula

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Emile Zola, Therese Raquin

August Strindberg, Ghost Sonata

Screenings of Nosferatu and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

  • A Midterm and a Final
  • A writing notebook where students analyze specific points in regard to the texts
  • Student Presentations
  • Major Paper
  • Annotated Bibliography

Means of Evaluation:

  • Grading of midterm, final, and presentation.

As a three-credit course, this class would also offer an opportunity to write a paper and produce an annotated bibliography on works of vampiric literature.

Added for Three Credit Option:

  • Literary Analysis Paper.2000-2500 words, 6 sources cited.

The papers themselves must be coherent, focused (on a single thesis), well organized, well substantiated (i.e. cite specific examples from the text) proofread, and documented in MLA format. Consider that your audience is already familiar with the texts, but may not have read them closely or recently. I will gladly read drafts (if they’re typed), discuss ideas, etc. Everyone MUST submit a proposal or outline by midterm. Late work will not be accepted.

  • Annotated Bibliography:

You will be responsible for turning in an annotated bibliography by midterm of works of vampiric criticism.

C. Rationale for the changes proposed:

Expanding the variable credit for this course from 1-2 credits to 1-3 credits will allow for greater scheduling and curricular options for the English Department. Generally, this course will be offered as 1-2 credits but occasionally a 3-credit option will allow for the possibility of providing an in-depth study of a topic that is not otherwise covered in the curriculum or is given minor attention in a literary survey course.

  1. Description of any impact of this proposal on other departments, programs, majors, or minors: None

E. Description any impact that this proposal may have on the University Studies Program: None

Syllabus for ENG 327

Bram to Buffy: The Vampire in Literature

3 credits

Dr. Debra L. Cumberland

Office: Minne 306

Office phone: 507-457-5444

Office hours: Mon and Wed, 11-12, 2-3; Tues and Thurs, 9-12, 1-2

Course Descriptions/Objectives:

This course aims to examine the chief characteristics of “vampire” literature, beginning with the first work of fiction written in English to feature a vampire character—John Polidori’s “The Vampyr”—to the present day, concentrating on the ways in which it is used and developed. We will read some important works by Victorian writers—Stoker, Wilde, Zola—and along the way explore how vampire stories can be read as a metaphor for a particular society’s hidden fears, obsessions, desires. As we track different images of the vampire, we can follow changing social concerns. Sexuality, religion, class, gender, race, industrialization—all these issues and more are implicated in the vampire myth and its more modern reincarnations in popular literature and film. In this course we will try to understand the complex cultural and historical background to the vampire myth and explore how these issues are still with us today through shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the concept of evil is at one with the category of Otherness itself: evil characterizes whatever is radically different from me. So from earliest times, the stranger from another time, the barbarian . . . or in our own day, the avenger of accumulated resentments from some oppressed class, or else that alien being—these are some of the figures in which the fundamental identity of the representative of Evil and the Other are visible. The point, however, is not that in such figures the Other is feared because he is evil; rather he is evil because he is Other, alien, different, strange” –Frederic Jameson

“Listen to my tale; it is long and strange”—Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Course Materials:

John Polidori’s The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Christabel” (on reserve in my office)

Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, Carmilla

Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (on reserve in my office)

Emile Zola, Therese Raquin

Bram Stoker, Dracula

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

August Strindberg, Ghost Sonata; excerpt from Strindberg’s correspondence (On reserve in my office)

Films:Nosferatu

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Visiting Vampire Lecture Series: Professor David Robinson will be visiting our class to discuss Nosferatu, and Professor Angie Wong-Hayes will be visiting to discuss “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” toward the end of the semester.

Course Requirements:

  1. In-class midterm and final examination.
  2. A presentation on a modern incarnation of the vampire, from T.V. shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to movies such as Anne Rice’s “Interview with a Vampire” or “Daughters of Darkness.” You choose. You will be required to write a presentation analysis (each individually, although you will present in groups). This analysis should be at least three pages long.
  3. Regular attendance in class. After THREE absences your grade will be lowered one letter grade. With only the rarest of exceptions, such as medically verified illness, death in the family, and a university-sponsored event, I simply count absences and apply the above formula. Arriving to class late is disruptive. As a result, chronic lateness will likely affect your final grade.
  4. You will keep an on-going “Blood Read Journal” (yes, I have a sick sense of humor) where you will respond to the prompts I list in the syllabus. This journal will be turned in at the end of the semester. It is intended to serve as a prompt for class discussion. You will not be graded on grammar, etc., but rather on whether you have completed the journal prompt. These responses should be at least two pages in length (front to back of a journal page, this meaning a normal spiral notebook length, not a small memo pad.) Have fun with these entries; they are opportunities for you not only to respond to the prompt, but to explore ideas that you would like to bring up in class. Be Bold! Be Reckless! Be Daring!
  5. A detailed, thoughtful, approximately seven page paper analyzing a text according to the criteria discussed in class.
  6. An annotated bibliography will accompany the paper.

****

Final Exam: Your final exam is to write a literary analysis of a work of vampiric literature AS IF you were one of the authors on the list—for example, Bram Stoker reviewing Pam Kesey’s anthology of lesbian vampire tales, Daughters ofDarkness, or Oscar Wilde reviewing Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. This review will need to be five pages in length. Talk to me about which option you wish to do.

There are no firearms allowed in class. Please turn off cell phones. Coffins, stakes, etc. should be left at home.

I trust that you will find this course both rewarding and fun. I expect you to work hard, but not to tear your hair out or stand on the top of tall buildings holding a jug of kerosene, threatening to burn the campus down. Hard work, good humor, enthusiasm and perseverance will play a major role in your success in this class.

If you stress out about anything involving the class, see me. I look forward to working with all of you on an individual basis.

Grading:

Class Participation: 10%

Journals: 10%

Midterm Exam: 15%

Final Exam: 30%

Presentations: 15%

Major Paper and Annotated Bibliography: 30%

Week One:

Tues Jan. 13 Introduction to the course.

Thurs Jan 15 Introduction to the Genre and the Myth: John Polidori’s The Vampyre. Journal prompt: Polidori’s Vampire tale—what do you think were the reasons for its popularity? Why are vampires so popular?

Tues Jan 20 More vampires and Romanticism: Coleridge’s “Christabel” and Byron’s fragment. Coleridge poem on reserve in my office; Byron frag in Polidori anthology

Thurs Jan 22 Femmes Fatales: all of Carmilla

Journal prompt: what are the most important differences between the male vampires (as in Polidori’s and Byron’s vampire) and the female vampires?

Tues Jan 27 Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”

Thurs 29 Vampires in Pre-Raphaelite art; log onto websites that I will provide and write a journal entry on what, exactly, you see going on in these pictures. How do you respond to them? How might these pictures tap into the cultural anxieties we have been exploring?

Tues Feb 3 The vampire as social metaphor: Therese Raquin All of Zola. Journal Prompt: Who is the vampire in this novel? If so, what is the vampire a metaphor for?

Thurs Feb 5 More Zola.

Tues Feb 10 Vampires and Homosexuality: Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray; Have it all Read. Journal freewrite.

Thurs Feb 12 Continue discussion.

Tues Feb 17 Vampires and the New Woman: Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Genesis and Critical Reception. Chapters 1-9 (Read intro in Broadview edition) Journal freewrite: What captures your attention in these chapters? What intrigues you, repels you, surprises you?

Thurs Feb 19 Chapters 10-13 Journal entry: compare and contrast Lucy and Mina.

Tues Feb 24 Chap 14-20 Journal entry: How do you respond to the char. Of Dracula?

Thurs Feb 26 21-24

Tues March 2 Finish Stoker

Thurs March 4 Midterm exam

March 6-14 Spring Break YIPPEEE!

Tues March 16 Strindberg play. Journal entry: what is the vampire in this play?

Thurs March 18 Discuss play

Tues March 23 Discuss play

Thurs March 25 The Celluloid Vampire:Watch Nosferatu

Tues March 29 Finish movie—journal prompts—make lists of questions and reaction to movie for our first Visiting Vampire

Thurs April 1 Visiting vampire, Professor David Robinson

Tues April 6 Screening of an episode of “Buffy”; lists of questions and reactions for second visiting vampire, Professor Angie Wong-Hayes

Thurs April 8 Visiting vampire, Professor Angie Wong-Hayes

Tues April 13 First presentation group

Thurs April 15 Second presentation group

Tues April 20 Third presentation group

Thurs April 22 Fourth presentation group

Tues April 27 Fifth presentation group

Thurs April 29 Discussion of final exam, course evaluations, and wrap-up. Turn in “Blood Read” Journals

Final Examinations: May 3, 4, 5, 6

Final Exam Time: May 4, 1-3 p.m.

You may come to my office and turn in your final exams during this time period. Bring your “Blood Read” journals at this time, too!

WINONASTATEUNIVERSITY

APPROVAL FORM

Routing form for new and revised courses and programs. Course or Program_____English 327______

Department Recommendation
______
Department Chair Datee-mail address
Dean’s Recommendation_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
______
Dean of College Date
A2C2 Recommendation_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
For: _____ Major_____ Minor
______
Chair of A2C2 Date
Graduate Council Recommendation_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
(if applicable)
______
Chair of Graduate CouncilDate
______
Director of Graduate StudiesDate
Faculty Senate Recommendation_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
______
President of Faculty Senate Date
Academic Vice President Recommendation_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
______
Academic Vice President Date
Decision of President_____ Approved_____ Disapproved
______
President Date
Please forward to Registrar.
Registrar ______Please notify department chair via e-mail that curricular change has been recorded.
Date entered