Pop-up Horror! (5cr)
Course unit code: C-10122-KIE--KK--376
General information
- Credits
- 5 cr
- Institution
- University of Tampere
Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to describe the nature and structure of scientific abstracts and oral presentationsto give feedback on and critically evaluate conference abstractsto write a scientific abstract and apply research methods to a chosen topicto deliver a coherent oral presentation
Content
With their vampires, monsters, aliens, serial killers, zombies, and other horror creatures and scenarios, Anglophone literary and visual horror narratives have attracted large audiences across the globe. For some, horror simply means blood and gore, while others have identified more serious dimensions in the stories. Horror narratives have participated in othering marginalised groups of people and spread fear and social anxiety, but they have also to expressed social critique and frustration at current social conditions. While the course highlights horror narratives, its main focus lies in practicing how to create and give oral presentations. The course uses alternative study methods and focuses on individual, independent scientific study. Each student chooses a specific horror narrative, narrows down a research topic, and gives a conference presentation on the Pop-up Horror Day. Please note that there will be no classes on horror stories themselves; instead, classes deal with transferable skills such as writing and commenting on abstracts/proposals, as well as giving oral presentations. In addition, individual work is supervised by the teacher during the course. The course is directed at students who have an interest in studying horror narratives; who are interested in research and independent study; who are looking for an MA thesis topic; and who can manage and respect deadlines, because we will organise a Pop-up Horror Day with ‘conference’ presentations at the end of the course. Thematic areas of interest for oral presentations include, but are not limited to, the following areas of interest: death and horror; horror and social fears; queer(ing) horror; women and horror; horror and ‘race’; children and childhood in horror stories; psychological horror; supernatural horror; body horror; alien horror; vampires and horror; space and mobility in horror fiction; horror fan fiction.