It’s never very shocking when a story pops up about a piece of creative popular culture being used as the basis of a course at an accredited American university. After all, there are schools that offer courses on “The Simpsons” and “The Wire”, and those are both awesome. So why wouldn’t some colleges offer additional awesome courses? I’ll tell you why – because they open the doors for Twilight classes.
An “Intro to Fiction” course at Ohio State University has Twilight on the syllabus as required reading. Even better, it’s an honors course. But OSU isn’t alone in the sparkling vampires game. Last September, a Yahoo! Article pointed out that at least 7 other universities either had courses specifically about the Twilight series or at least involving the books and films. Among them – the University of Alabama (“The Twilight Saga”), the University of South Carolina (“The Twilight Saga and Religion”) and… Harvard University (“The Vampire in Literature and Film”). Harvard better hope they include Let the Right One In.
So why this sudden fuss about courses that began last fall? Because our American college students are losing their minds. Between the greater public awareness of student loan debts and the realization of sudden independence, college students have reported higher stress levels and lower emotional health, according to a study by the University of California. The responses indicate the worst results in 25 years, as more students are feeling the combined pressure of collegiate studies and a bad economy. Oh kids, always worrying. Thankfully, everything is awesome when college ends.
But some college students just don’t care about anything in general. Another study by some other people from other universities claims that by the end of their sophomore years, 45% of college students have shown no improvements in critical thinking, complex reasoning and… that other thing. Whatever, as long as they remember to wear condoms.
(Banner image via Epicponyz.)
LINKS
- Twilight is the subject of an increasing number of sparkling college courses. (The Daily What)
- College freshmen finding themselves more stressed out, still drunk. (Bellingham Herald)
- Students aren’t learning… um,uh… stuff in their first two years at college. (The Signal)
MORE NEWS
- A 51-year old married French father of two is suing GlaxoSmithKline because he claims that the drug Requip – a Parkinson’s treatment drug – has turned him into an addict of gambling and gay pornography. And I liked this movie the first time when it was called Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. (Fox News)
- Eunice Sanburn gave up her claim as the World’s Oldest Person on Monday when she died at the age of 115. This is great news for 114-year old Besse Cooper, who is the new reigning champ. Here’s to a long reign, Besse! (Gawker)
KNOW YOUR STATS
- That study I mentioned before about college kids not learning also points out that 50% of sophomores are not taking classes that require 20 or more pages of writing, and 32% aren’t taking classes that make them read at least 40 pages each week. That means their only papers are rolling. (Philly.com)
- Children’s book sales were up 4.9% in England from 2008 to 2009, and picture books were up an additional 13% as well. Industry experts attribute this to the Twilight series, which had the five best-selling children’s book titles in 2009. No word yet on where they rank among America’s college students. (BBC)
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When I was in college, I took a class on sci-fi literature. On the first day, our professor showed us Plan 9 from Outer Space as an example of the things we wouldn’t be reading.
My point being, unless they’re using Twilight of an example of something that shouldn’t be taken seriously, I am disappoint.
Our English teacher refused to put it on the syllabus and made a girl cry because he said that Twilight was making people stupid. There was a big argument.
He was my favorite teacher ever.
Well guys, some classes are about culture in college, and, like it or not, Twilight is a part of our culture. So let’s stop bemoaning the stupidity of college students and just take a look at ourselves.
that pic is from the bookstore i work at… lets not forget to mention its an honors class.
I googled Garcha’s syllabus for the class:
“In this course, we will identify some of literary fiction’s defining characteristics, including its uses of narrative voices to tell stories, its manipulation of time to depict its subjects, and its emphasis on characters’ familial, sociopolitical, and erotic relationships. While we read and discuss some important, influential narratives about the supernatural – Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight as well a few minor works – we will also explore how these texts, like much other fiction, try to create particular reading experiences, as they push us to consider the nature and importance of literary imagination and the way fiction’s seductiveness is tied to other potentially dangerous attractions.”
Sounds legit to me.
I love how this is now considered required reading, yet when I was a senior in H.S. my teacher had to fight tooth and nail with the principal to let us read and watch A Clockwork Orange. Not that it mattered because when the movie was over I was the only in class who raised his hand after the teacher asked us if they liked it.
Start saving your money for the black market now folks. You’re gonna need it.
Thank you for the Let The Right One In mention, and not the remake Let Me In. I enjoyed both but the original is probably the best vampire movie since The Lost Boys. I just really love The Lost Boys.
its entirely possible that its put on there as a “what not to do” kind of thing.
the college version of “check out how bad this stupid shit is!”
God, you’re all so pretentious. You probably haven’t read the books, but want to make a stand as being “oh so far above it” by insulting it with every breath.
The books are meant to be simple entertainment and escapism. MANY books which are now considered to be classics began life as simple escapism and were equally criticized during their time. These books might be considered silly and beneath you (most likely because they cater to a strictly female readership) but that doesn’t mean they will not be worth taking a look at in a college classroom.
For one thing, it will be interesting to examine the deep misogyny and sexism which continues to exist in this society and how the Twilight phenomenon (both the movies and the books) highlights the issue. There could be a discussion on the elevation of certain works of sexist garbage, such as The Hangover, which cater to male audiences and which reduce females to b*tches and sl*ts (and the brunt of jokes) in comparison to the complete visceration of works which cater to a female audience, where romance, relationships, and character development are the focus.
@Pam
I’ve read the first two. There are plenty of books that are simple entertainment and escapism. However, those books actually contain some level of quality. The Twilight books read as though they were written by a lobotomized fan fiction writer.
It has nothing to do with being above the work. It has everything to do with the fact that these are some of the worst written books to appear in modern time. Unless they are being as an example of what a writer should not do, they have no place in a college clasroom.
Oooohhh…. Well then, if “simple escapist fiction” is worth taking a look at in a college honors course, then let’s pluck out some SWEET VALLEY HIGH and examine issues like the total lack of conscience in Jessica Wakefield’s actions. Bullsh*t.
I’ve put up with American Idol, desperate housewives, Kardashians and Justin Bieber. If this is true, I give up. I’m moving to France.
In France we would totally study those books, we can analyze them in an intellectual manner without mentionning their crappiness…
One of our greatest philosopher Gilles Deleuze, even had lots of philosophic talks about Tennis…
I was panicked about the degeneration of literary scholarship until this sophisticated discussion came to the rescue. Thanks uproxx.com comment section! Now I can breathe easy, confident in our species’ ability to critique Twighlight as I read speculation about Charlie Sheen’s sex tape and use the handy flowchart to determine my star wars occupation.
@eric schuman:
Will there be porn movie courses too then?
eric schuman said:
“Well guys, some classes are about culture in college, and, like it or not, Twilight is a part of our culture. So let’s stop bemoaning the stupidity of college students and just take a look at ourselves.
I am not a big fan of the move myself, but if it increases an interest in student to read and read analytically as well as critically, then it can be a good thing. As a matter of fact, I read a popular novel in college and we had to write a paper on the novel. Because I was interested in the book as popular literature, I was more keen to pay more attention as I read.
From my experience, “culture courses” have been an excuse for the instructor to goof off so that teaching is a “top of the head” method. Meaning: you don’t have to deep insight to stimulate instruction. It’s as if kids got together on their own to talk about the latest movie.
Much of the criticism about teaching the Twilight novels misrepresents how these novels have been taught at colleges and Universities across the U.S. For example, the University of Alabama only offered the course #once# and it was during the short interim (May) session, not as part of a regular semester. It was a special topics course during a short (3 week) term to try a more “innovative” approach to learning literature. Students also read Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pride and Prejudice, and Wuthering Heights (not to mention some literary theory and literary criticism). The criticism of this course is short-sighted and does not don’t take into account relevant facts. Moreover, these critics don’t seem to realize that the cultural production surrounding these novels and their film adaptations alone is a rich area for academic and cultural inquiry (which was a central point this class addressed again and again).