NOTE: Syllabus for Fall 2017 Will Strongly Resemble This One

NOTE: Syllabus for Fall 2017 will strongly resemble this one

Vampires: From Slavic Village to Hollywood FLL 240 Spring 2017 Online

Dr. Meghan Murphy-Lee Office hours [email protected] Mon. and Wed. 2-3 PM Curtin Hall 824 414-229-4949

Teaching Assistant Erin Tennant Office hours: [email protected] Mon. and Wed. 11AM -12 PM Curtin Hall 882

This course consists of an examination of the vampire – a supernatural figure whose origins are located firmly in the Slavic and Eastern European folkloric tradition. Using novels, films, legends, and chronicles, we will observe the varying representations of vampires as they range from pre-historic times to the present and from Eastern Europe to the West. Their temporal, geographical, and cultural migrations have permitted them to act as a means by which to examine the nexus of folklore and religious faith (dvojeverie) and evolving cultural norms with respect to women, violence, and other ethnicities. From ancient folk tales that use the revenant as a demarcator of the realms of the living and the dead, to Stoker’s romantic Dracula, to Gogol’s female vampire in Viy, we will assess possible reasons for our simultaneous attraction to and fear of these creatures and how their portrayals may reflect our attitudes towards cultural diversity, gender roles, religious thought, and adolescent maturation. The course will emphasize critical analysis and the enhancement of expository writing skills such that the works can be placed and contextualized in the eras and societies that produced them and that credible interpretations of the course materials can be produced. Please note that this course contains occasional adult material including violence, sexuality, and other controversial topics.

Humanities General Education Requirements This course partially satisfies the humanities component of the UWM General Education Requirements. It approaches the study of Slavic folklore through humanistic means of inquiry (e.g. critical use of sources and evaluation of evidence, exercise of judgment and expression of ideas, organization, logical analysis, and creative use of knowledge). It introduces students to substantial and coherent bodies of historical, cultural, literary, and philosophical knowledge as a means of increasing your understanding of the complexities and varieties of human events. You will gain a fundamental knowledge of Slavic folklore over the last millennium: themes, influences, religion, literature, film, superstitions, beliefs, rituals, and daily life. You also will analyze and critique the information presented with the goal of identifying elements of all these topics that speak to a uniquely Slavic character. You will acquire a refined understanding of the historical readings, literary texts, films, etc. covered in the course, and will be asked to demonstrate thoughtful, original, and creative approaches to the course material in your presentations and exams.

All UWM courses with Humanities GER designation have learning outcomes. The outcomes for this course are: Students will be able to critically analyze a folkloric or literary text, interpret those texts in order to better understand the belief system of the given culture, and discuss the issues concerned in Slavic folklore. In addition, this course addresses the following UW System Shared Learning Goal: Achieve a more sophisticated understanding of Russian society and folk beliefs. I will use your final project to assess your achievement of these outcomes according to the rubrics under “Learning Outcomes” below.

Learning Outcomes Our primary goal is to achieve a more sophisticated understanding of Russian society and folk beliefs. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Critically analyze a folkloric or literary text. 2. Interpret and comment on the relationship of Russia’s ancient beliefs and traditions regarding vampires to modern vampire literature. 3. Discuss in an articulate manner the issues connected to Slavic folklore.

An additional fifteen points will be linked to the Humanities GER learning outcome and the UW System Shared Learning Goal described above. I will assess your achievement of these three outcomes and goals, assigning up to fifteen points using your second essay according to the following rubric:

Criteria 5 Points 3 Points 0 Points

Interpret folkloric -May have minor logical and anthropological -Logical consistency in inconsistencies -Not articles to better interpretation -Less convincing Completed understand the -Convincing argument demonstration of beliefs of the Slavic based on textual analysis understanding of beliefs or people and class discussions minor problems with analysis of material

Interpret and comment on the relationship of -May have minor logical -Not -Logical consistency Russia’s ancient inconsistencies or fallacies Completed -Convincing argument beliefs and traditions -Less convincing argument, based on textual analysis regarding vampires or minor problems with and class discussions to modern vampire analysis of material literature

Discuss in an -Clear analysis -Analysis present but less articulate manner the -Articulate presentation clear issues connected to -Clear understanding of -Minor articulation -Not Slavic folklore. the issues connected to problems with regard to Completed Slavic folklore the issues connected to Slavic folklore

Class requirements and expectations This class will consist of readings and slides posted on d2l. You must take the reading quiz for each day before you will be able to access the slides for that given day. The class is constructed in self-contained week-long modules which must be completed in order to do well on the essays and tests. You must read the assignments, take the quizzes, and post on the discussion board before you can access the test and essay assignments.

Responsibility for good class discussion is everyone’s – therefore I expect you to:  keep up with the reading.  complete reading comprehension quizzes / posts on d2l before class.  complete writing assignments and tests in a timely fashion.

Required texts for the course These required textbooks can be purchased at the UWM bookstore or at Amazon.com. They must be purchased in order to fully participate in this course.

 The Vampire: A Casebook, by Alan Dundes (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998)  Dracula, by Bram Stoker (Norton Critical Edition, 1996)  Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko

Selected readings from the following (posted on d2l):  Vampires of the Slavs, by Jan L. Perkowski  Morphology of the Folktale, by Vladimir Propp  Russian Fairy Tales, by Alexander Afanas’ev  Other vampire folktales and legends

Schedule of Readings All readings available in PDF on d2l are noted with this symbol: .

You must have access to a reliable broadband connection, or be willing to spend amounts of time on campus in a computer lab completing the work. appreciable

Required Electronic Literacy:

Be familiar with Microsoft Word or similar word processing program, and Adobe Acrobat. Please check your UWM email and course management software (D2L) and its associated D2L email EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Course Website This course is administered through the set of online course management tools known as Desire to Learn, or D2L. If you have studied at UWM before, you are probably already familiar with this system. The course website can be accessed at http://d2l.uwm.edu . When you access this site, log in. Your username is your UWM email account name (without the @uwm.edu). Your password is the one you use for ePanther. Once you are on the site, you will need to click our course title in the set of classes in which you are registered for this semester.

A handout on access to D2L will be sent to you with this syllabus.

A 24-hour help desk for D2L is available. You can reach it by calling (414) 229-4040 if you are within the Milwaukee area. Alternately, you can call toll-free at 1-877-381-3459. You can also email [email protected], although in an emergency an email may not be the most expeditious way to get a response.

PLEASE NOTE THAT UNLESS THERE IS A CAMPUSWIDE D2L ISSUE, TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH D2L and/or WITH YOUR COMPUTER ARE NOT A VALID EXCUSE FOR NOT COMPLETING YOUR WORK. In some cases, if the student presents proper documentation of a technical issue which is truly beyond her or his control, I can accommodate her or him. On proper documentation, see “Dealing with Technical Issues” which was sent to you with the syllabus and can also be found on the content page of your d2l site.

Save and back up your work frequently to TWO INDEPENDENT, PERMANENTLY AND PERSISTENTLY AVAILABLE LOCATIONS. One location might be your local hard drive, while the 2nd could be a location in The Cloud such as Google Drive or email to yourself. Don’t risk losing your work at the very last minute. This problem is preventable.

Credit hour policy

A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally-established equivalency and reasonably approximates not less than:

(1) one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or

(2) ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or

(3) the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time.

Because this is a three credit hour class, this means that over the course of the semester you should spend 144 hours on this course. For each week this should roughly break down as follows:

(1) 4 hours for class readings and preparation for classroom activities (2) 2 hours for preparations for quizzes and tests.

(3) 3.6 hours for taking tests, quizzes, and working on class slides

Distribution of Grades

 Reading comprehension quizzes 20%  Two exams – 10% each 20%  Two short essays on readings / viewing assignments (2-3 pp.) 20%  Discussion posts 20%  Original folk tale with discussion of folkloric elements (6-8 pp.) 20%

Grading Scale: B+ = 88-89 C+ = 78-79 D+ = 68-69 F = 59 and below A = 93-100 B = 83-87 C = 73-77 D = 63-67 A- = 90-92 B- = 80-82 C- = 70-72 D- = 60-62 Reading quizzes (20%). There will be 27 quizzes over the course of the semester - one for each reading assignment. These quizzes test whether you read the assigned text. They will be posted on Tuesday and Thursday morning at 5 AM and are due on Saturday at 11:57 PM (3 minutes before midnight). I will drop your two lowest quiz scores.

Discussion Postings (20%). Once per week, I will post discussion questions. In this instance, every student must post one answer of at least 200 words. This answer must be original and have at least two specific references to the text. Both quizzes and postings count for up to five points in accordance with the following scale:  5 points: complete and specific answer  4 points: complete answer with missing reference to the text  3 points: answer that is incomplete or too short  2 points: answer without any specific reference to the text and is too short  1 point: incomprehensible answer which shows no understanding of the text

About reading: These are complex texts, and they require careful reading. This reading cannot be rushed, and you will miss out on much of what makes them worthwhile if you try to plow through them in a hurry. So, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to complete assigned readings; figure at least two minutes per page as a minimum. To prepare for class discussions, quizzes and exams, make copious notes while reading, study the footnotes, note anything that does not make sense so you can ask about it, and continually question and analyze your and others’ responses to the text.

Exams (20%) These exams are designed to gauge your conversance with the critical concepts and aspects of historical and cultural contexts discussed in class and presented during lectures and student presentations. They are take-home, open-book, but not open- note exams. You will be given one week to complete the exam and must submit it before class on the exam date. They consist of two parts: 1. Identifications (people, concepts, characters, historical events, etc.) drawn from lectures and class discussion. 2. Essay exams (readings and films), which will ask you to interpret the works we have read and viewed based on class discussion.

Short essays (20%) These short essays will be based on the readings and discussion and will offer you the opportunity to assimilate the knowledge you have acquired. You will be given a choice of two topics and must write a two- to three-page essay on this topic. All references to the work in question must be cited.

Original folk tale (20%) In lieu of a final exam, each student will write a vampire folktale incorporating the folklore characteristics we have discussed in class. In addition to the folktale, you must submit a one- to two-page discussion/explanation of the folk elements you used and why you chose these elements. No folktales longer than 10 pages will be accepted.

Schedule of Tests and Essays (tentative): Exam One Feb. 13 Exam Two April 19 Essay One March 15 Essay Two May 18 Final folk tale May 3

Course Policies

Deadlines: I generally will not accept any late or make-up assignments for any reason. If a real emergency prevents you from getting your work done, please contact the Dean of Students and be ready to provide verifiable documentation.

Auditing: Auditors are admitted to this course only on the condition that they agree to be active participants and not passive observers. As such, auditors are expected to complete all the assignments and participate in all class activities. Auditors who do not complete assignments or participate appropriately hinder the learning of other students and will be asked to drop the course.

Disabilities: If you have any kind of disability that might affect your performance in this class, please notify me immediately so that we can accommodate your needs. If you wait until the semester is already half-over, I may not be able to accommodate you.

Harassment: No harassment of any kind will be tolerated. If you feel you are being harassed or if you think one of your classmates is being harassed in any way, please inform either me or our Russian section coordinator, Professor Joe Peschio ([email protected]), immediately.

Plagiarism: Any cases of suspected plagiarism will be referred immediately to the Dean of Students for investigation and disciplinary action, which can include expulsion from the university. Generally speaking, plagiarism is the act of presenting other people’s ideas or language as your own (e.g. quoting a website without citation or paraphrasing someone else’s thoughts). If at any point you are at all unsure as to whether you might be committing plagiarism, please just ask! The consequences of plagiarism are very unpleasant for everyone, so let’s avoid it at all costs.

For policies on academic misconduct, complaint procedures, and grade appeal procedures, see http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/SyllabusLinks.pdf.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Week One: Jan. 23 What is Slavic folklore?

Jan. 25 The Life and Beliefs of the Slavic Peasant The Pagan Gods from Russian Myths Demons and Spirits of Place from Russian Myths

Week Two: Jan. 30 Slavic Mythology  Slavic Mythology

Feb. 1 The Slavic Folktale  Chapter I: On the History of the Problem from The Morphology of the Folktale by V. Propp Chapter 2: The Method and Material from The Morphology of the Folktale by V. Propp

Week Three: Feb. 6 Death and Funeral Rituals of the Slavic People  Chapter 3: The Function of Dramatic Personae from The Morphology of the Folktale by V. Propp  Chapter 4 Assimilation: Causes of the Double Morphological Meaning of a Single Function from The Morphology of the Folktale by V. Propp

Feb. 8 The Slavic Folktale continued The Dead and the Other World from Russian Myths “The Vampire” from Russian Fairy Tales by Afanas’ev

Week Four: Feb. 13 Vampire: An Introduction To Vampires and Upyri-–Exam One DUE “The History of the Word Vampire” in Dundes, pp. 3-11  “The Vampire: A Study in Slavic Bi-culturalism” by Jan Perkowski

Feb. 15 Origins of Vampire Beliefs in the Slavic World  “The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism” by Jan Perkowski (Chapters 1-3)

Week Five: Feb. 20 Origins of Vampire Beliefs in the Slavic World Continued ”Slavic Folk Culture” by Kazimierz Moszynski  “The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism” by Jan Perkowski (Chapter 4)

Feb. 22 The Historical Dracula  “The Story of Dracula” Dracula: Chapters 1-7

Week Six: Feb. 27 Stoker’s Dracula Dracula: Chapter 8-14

March 1 Stoker’s Dracula Dracula: Chapter 15-22

Week Seven: March 6 Stoker’s Dracula Dracula Chapter 23- 27 March 8 The Eastern European Folkloric Vampire  “Peter Plogojowitz”  “The Shoemaker of Silesia”

Week Eight: March13 The South Slavic Literary Vampire  “After Ninety Years”

March 15 The Slavic Folktale and Eyewitness Accounts of the Vampire-Essay One Due “East European Vampires” in Dundes, pp. 47-56  “Tale of a Russian Vampire” by Blavatsky

Week Nine: March 27 Are Vampires Shape Shifters in Slavic Folklore? Folk Narratives about the Supernatural from Russian Folk Belief March 29 The Literary Vampire  “A Fragment,” by Byron  “The Vampyre,” by John Polidori from Vampire and Other Works: Selected Writings of John Polidori

Week Ten: April 3 The Western Female Vampire  “Carmilla,” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

April 5 The Vampire in Russian Literature  “The Family of the Vurdalak,” by A. Tolstoi

Week Eleven: April 10 The Vampire in Russian Literature, Continued ”Phantoms: A Fantasy” by I. Turgenev ”The Island of Bornholm” by N. Karamzin

April 12 The Psychology of the Vampire “South Slavic Countermeasures against Vampires” in Dundes, pp. 67-71 “Clinical Vampirism: Blending Myth and Reality” in Dundes, pp. 143-158

Week Twelve: April 17 The Female Slavic Vampire “Viy” by N. Gogol’

April 19 Measures Against Vampires; Exam Two Due “In Defense of Vampires” in Dundes, pp. 57-66 “The Killing of a Vampire” in Dundes, pp. 72-84

Week Thirteen: April 24 Modern Technology and the Vampire Myth “Forensic Pathology and the European Vampire” in Dundes, pp. 109-142 Night Watch (Story Chapter 1-2, up to page 45)

April 26 The Modern Vampire Night Watch (Story 1 Chapter 3-6, pages 46 - 123)

Week Fourteen: May 1 The Modern Vampire Night Watch (Story 1 Chapter 7- 8, Story 2 Chapter 1, pages 124-207)

May 3 Russian Vampires for the New Century (Night Watch) Final Folktale DUE Night Watch (Story 2 Chapter 2- Chapter 4, pages 208-278)

Week Fifteen: May 8 The Modern Russian Vampire Night Watch (Story 2 Chapter 5 – Story 3 Chapter 1, pages 279-357) May 10 Russian Rock, Goths, and Vamps Night Watch (Story 3 Chapter 2- Chapter 7, pages 358- 455)

ESSAY TWO DUE ON May 18th