{"id":4609,"date":"2012-10-31T11:54:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T16:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=4609"},"modified":"2015-11-12T08:21:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T14:21:47","slug":"the-undead-make-for-a-lively-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/the-undead-make-for-a-lively-class\/","title":{"rendered":"The undead make for a lively class"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Students have a little pre-Halloween fun before class with Murphy-Lee (2nd from right). Pictured are students Tony Tadych, Ross Regini, Gabrielle Young (vampire), Nate Tratnik, and Jamie Nikstad. (Photo by Alan Magayne-Roshak).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Interest in vampires never dies.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why students have flocked to a UWM class titled \u201cVampires: From Slavic Village to Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The class was offered in spring 2012 and proved so popular that two sessions \u2013 one in-person and one online \u2013 are being offered this fall.<\/p>\n

Students in the class come from a variety of majors, says Meghan Murphy-Lee, a senior lecturer in Slavic languages, who teaches the class. The three-credit course focuses on vampire myths in the Slavic\/Balkan areas rather than Romania.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriters and film majors are attracted to the class as a way of grounding themselves in vampire myth and folklore,\u201d says Murphy-Lee, but the class also attracts students from business, education, history, anthropology, Russian, Slavic studies, criminal justice and other areas.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vlad the Impaler, said to be the model for Dracula<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The popularity of the Twilight books and films, Anne Rice novels, the True Blood series and other vampire-themed creative works fuels current interest, but Murphy-Lee notes that \u201cvampires are a long-standing popular staple in film and literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The course offers a historical survey of Western vampire lore, from discovery in Eastern Europe in the 1700s through British literary vampire literature to Hollywood Dracula films. While Hollywood has focused on the themes of sex and violence inherent in the tales of blood-sucking vampires, the myths and legends are linked to religion and customs, according to Murphy-Lee.<\/p>\n

Romania is often identified with vampire myths, but researchers have traced variations of the stories to villages in Russia, the Ukraine, Croatia and Serbia, says Murphy-Lee. Her doctorate is in Slavic Languages and Literature, and her research interests include Slavic folklore, linguistics and strategies for improving Russian-language acquisition.<\/p>\n

Looking at folklore roots<\/strong><\/p>\n

The College of Letters and Science had offered a vampire class earlier that focused on literature, but Murphy-Lee\u2019s class looks more at the folklore roots of vampire legends and how context shapes the stories from various cultures. For example, different legends offer myriad ways of rendering a vampire harmless \u2013 ranging from garlic to protective herbs to candles to a stake through the heart, she says.<\/p>\n

The variety of backgrounds students bring to the class contributes to lively discussions, says Murphy-Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really get a great insight into the development of Slavic culture and how body and spirit work together in Slavic mythology,\u201d said Katie Kniesly, an education major who took the course in the spring. Her interest in vampires grew out of Bram Stoker\u2019s classic Dracula story, and she was interested in exploring the history of vampire legends.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students Gabrielle Young, Nate Tratnik and Jamie Nisktad with Murphy-Lee. (Pale effect is from the photographer, not lack of blood). (Photo by Alan Magayne-Roshak)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cVampires are such a prevalent theme in literature,\u201d said Cyanne Gore, Letters and Science major, who also was in the spring class. Gore is interested in creative writing and film, and wanted to look at the roots of the stories. Gore also was attracted to the mythical nature of vampires. \u201cThey have such an aura of mystery and power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou become a lot more critical of vampire films,\u201d adds Mike Ade, a criminal justice major, who took the course as part of an interest in vampires and folklore that grew out of reading Anne Rice\u2019s vampire novels.<\/p>\n

Daniel Roessler, a senior who\u2019s taking the course online this semester, is majoring in biology and plans to go into veterinary medicine. \u201cI needed one more class to meet my humanities requirement, plus I love classic movie monsters\/villains, so I was very happy this vampire class was available.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he probably won\u2019t directly use what he learns, he says he finds it interesting to discover how the Slavs worshipped spirits and gods. \u201cI\u2019m always a fan of mythology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy-Lee sees the course as a way of enticing students into Russian language and Slavic studies classes. \u201cOnce students start learning about the Slavic culture, they often become interested in the languages, too. It\u2019s really a window into the Slavic world, a way of understanding the Slavic peoples and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interest in vampires never dies, and students have flocked to a UWM class titled \u201cVampires: From Slavic Village to Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":4612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[],"related-coverage":[207],"uwmnews-feed":[],"class_list":["post-4609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-students","related-coverage-teaching"],"yoast_head":"\nThe undead make for a lively class<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Interest in vampires never dies, and students have flocked to a UWM class titled \u201cVampires: From Slavic Village to Hollywood.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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