Publications Bookstore Applied Anthropology

Dracula Haunts College Slavic Language and Literature Class

(Media-Newswire.com) - October 27, 2011 - Check out the TV, browse the teen section in book stores or consider movies from silent films to today. Vampires are everywhere.

"Look, for example, how the vampire is treated for Halloween in America," said Stanley J. Stepanic, a doctoral student in Slavic Languages ​​and Literatures at the University of Virginia Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, which is the teaching of popular courses, "Dracula."

In 2007, Stepanic took over the course of the retreat of the Slavic language, Professor Jan Perkowski Louis, who developed it. An expert in Slavic folklore, Perkowski has written numerous books on vampire lore.

Stepanic, formerly a teaching assistant for Perkowski, changed the structure of the course and uses Dracula as a symbol to present an interdisciplinary exploration of the origins and manifestations of vampirism.

The course covers history, ritual theory, Gothic literature, mythology, folklore, demonology, the study of disease and popular culture. It's an introduction to Slavic folklore in which students explore Western perceptions, misperceptions and adaptations of vampires. At its core, the class is an application of demonology, an often misunderstood topic.

"Students are amazed by everything that went into the development of this one character," Stepanic said.

"You can observe it from a mythological standpoint, or you can look at the demonology behind it. You'd be very surprised to learn how many different ways you can talk about it," third-year anthropology major Treyvon Jones said.

The course attracts undergraduate students from all areas of study, including architecture, studio art, foreign affairs, anthropology, psychology and business.

Rachel Lane, a third-year studio art major with a concentration in cinematography, is interested in folklore and fairy tales. "I pursue these themes in my films, so I thought that a course exploring demonology and the vampire would complement my other areas of study," she said. "I look forward to potentially applying what I learn in this course to my artwork."

The course delves deeply to reveal the origins of Western views on vampires, of which Dracula is the best-known example. The origin of the creature was a "coping mechanism" to help people understand things like plague, famine and drought, Stepanic said.

brucethoughtsblog: Androgyny Bookstore and First Gay Love

At the first meeting of Gay Mcgill the following Fall, when we were attempting to expand the newly formed organization into the community beyond the University, a newly arrived graduate student was present: an American who did his undergraduate work at the University of Missouri in Columbia and had come to McGill to study film.  He was about twenty-six at the time, close to six feet tall, broad shouldered with narrow hips, and long, dark hair; in the sunlight it took on an auburn hue and fell down his back far beyond his shoulders. He was rather sultry looking at the meeting and, as I recall, didn't say anything, although he had been quite active in gay liberation and the anti-war movement as a student. I was immediately attracted, but having trained myself in years of teaching to refrain from evincing an interest in students, as much as that's feasible given the strength of sexual attraction and the weakness of attempts to control non-voluntary communication, I don't believe I showed any interest. His name was Will Aitken and he later told me that, walking out of the meeting, he said to a friend, "I want the tall one with the beard." I met him again on my way to the residence where I was a professor in residence and it emerged he was living in the graduate residence just meters away. At that meeting I permitted myself to be somewhat more flirtatious. It was after the next meeting of Gay McGill, when we all went out for a few beers after the meeting, that we sat next to each other and the serious cruising took place. Under the influence of our strong, mutual sexual attraction and several beers, we walked back to the residences together, and, as was the norm in gay culture at that period of time, proceeded directly to my apartment and our first sexual encounter. It was a resoundingly exciting sexual romp and the beginning of our fourteen years together as boyfriends/partners/lovers. Three caveats are appropriate at this point in time: firstly, I dislike all of the terms used to refer to gay couples. "Boyfriend" reminds me of high school dating and of my Mother referring to her "girlfriends", who were in their sixties or seventies. "Partner" reminds me of a business association, as though we were in a legal firm together. "Lover" sounds to me like a mainly sexual relationship and doesn't capture the reality of a committed couple. The newly applied term, "spouse", causes me to cringe.

Applied anthropology

Some Perspectives in Applied Anthropology. Vol.III,no. ... Latin America, and Germany, StateCollege Book Store, East Lansing, Michigan 1945, p. 242. ...

American Anthropological Association Guide 2006-2007, A Guide to Programs, a Directory of Membership

Belize-Cultural & Applied Anthropology. Research Facilities/Resources ... For catalog write to University of Houston Bookstore, University Center, ...

Anthropology newsletter

The coalition of the presidents of AAA, Society for Applied Anthropology, American Association of Physical Anthropology, Society for American Archaeology, ...

The publishers weekly

"Against Home Rule ; the Case for the Union," a Warne publication in its fortieth thousand, ... The Williams Book Store, Inc., 349 Washington Street, ...

Personalities Caribbean

Society for Applied Anthropology (Fell.); Caribbean Study Group ... Librerie Internacional Romo, SL (publishing house and bookstore), Madrid, Spain. ...

© All Rights Reserved. Millenium News. Sitemap.