Learning Objectives

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

• Recognize the central tropes of Gothic fiction, including settings, character types, and plot developments;
• Perceive Gothic art as a mode of expressing social anxiety about class, gender, psychology, and geopolitics, etc.;
• Understand the cultural, intellectual, and artistic richness of the sites and locations the class visits.

Required Texts

Austen, Northanger Abbey (Oxford UP ISBN: 019953554X)
Brontë, Wuthering Heights (Oxford UP ISBN: 0199541892)
Doyle, “Lot 249” (PDF)
Freud, “The Uncanny” (PDF)
Rossetti, “Goblin Market” (PDF)
Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Oxford UP ISBN: 0199536228)
Stoker, Dracula (Oxford UP ISBN: 9780199564095)
Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray (Oxford UP ISBN: 0199535981)

Grade Distribution

Attendance and Participation (10%). Attendance at all class meetings and scheduled class activities/trips is mandatory (except in cases of severe illness or emergency). I will subtract 3% from the final course grade for every absence. At every class meeting you must have and use appropriate material(s) for collecting textual and visual evidence. I expect attentive and courteous behavior at all times, especially when we are touring a site or listening to a speaker. Every class meeting will require active participation: taking notes, taking photos, and taking part in class discussion. After each activity on our schedule, we will generally take 15 minutes in which you will have the chance to describe a specific object or idea that has caught your eye. I expect to be able to reach you through the email address and/or telephone # you provide me.

Blogging (40% for UG; 30% for G). Much of the intellectual back and forth of the class will happen on our class blog. The blog includes two broad categories: “litcrit posts” and “site posts.” Students must respond to all litcrit posts and respond to 8 of site posts. I will give extra credit for the mudlarking London Explore activity and any posts beyond the required number. Let me know if you have any ideas for additional extra credit posts.

Final Exam (25%). A final take-home exam will be due toward the end of our time abroad. Essay questions will be distributed beforehand.

Research Project (25% for UG; 35% for G). The class requires a research project. Undergraduate students will present their work on a poster. Specificity is crucial for the success of this assignment. Most projects will focus on an aspect of a literary text, but I am open to a wide range of possibilities. Given that research posters generally offer visible forms of evidence, this assignment encourages you to integrate the visual artifacts into your presentation. Graduate students will present their work in a conference-length essay (8 pages). This assignment also encourages you to integrate images into the argument (but it is not necessary). In addition to the primary source(s), this essay must also engage 4-5 secondary sources that deepen and broaden the argument. More information on the research project will be available on a handy sheet that does not yet exist.

Submitting Work.  All written assignments except blog posts must be submitted to me via email (carenst@cofc.edu) as a Word doc attachment. Posters should be either a PDF or PowerPoint slide. Please name the file you are sending “yourlastname assignmentname” (e.g., Smith Final)

Plagiarism, presenting as yours language or ideas generated by another writer(s) or AI, constitutes grounds for failing the class. If you are ever in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me.