Gothic Short Stories

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course traces the gothic short story in British and American literature from the 19th century to the 20th century. An important popular genre, the short story is a distinctive lens through which to view gothic literature's preoccupation with social, psychological, political, scientific, and moral issues. Key topics will include: vampires, revenants, and ghosts; trauma gothic; gothic bodies and body parts; American gothic; suburban gothic; gothic spaces; the uncanny; queer gothic; and medical gothic. There is also time devoted to ‘weird fiction’ as a gothic adjacent genre. Through class discussions and written assignments, students will work on close-reading and critical thinking skills and discover the work of a variety of authors. As this is a close-reading class, students will usually read one short story or two very short stories for each class period. PLEASE NOTE: If you took this course as a USEM you CANNOT take this as a 400000 level course.