- 400 Level
- English
Grades: 12 (Grade 11 with departmental approval)
Spring
There’s nothing better for a good scare than a ghost story, but entertainment value alone does not explain the persistence of ghost stories across time and cultures. In this course, we will explore the cultural work that ghost stories do. In myth, folklore, literature, and film, we will see how ghost stories are sites for contending with human psychology, history, memory, trauma, and injustice. In the first unit, Haunted Houses, students will collaboratively discover, classify, and decode tropes of the Gothic genre and consider its popularity as a response to the Age of Reason and alongside the rise of Spiritualism. In the second unit, Haunted Landscapes, students will explore the notion that the present is always haunted by the past, researching the historical, cultural, and regional contexts behind specific stories, sites, and legends, including local haunts. In the final unit, Haunted Futures, students will consider how emerging issues and technologies — the climate crisis and AI — might shape our cultural relationship with ghosts. Students can expect regular reading assignments that include short stories, novels, folktales, nonfiction essays, and historical narratives, as well as the occasional podcast and film. Classwork and assessments will include group and independent work, presentations, literary analysis, interdisciplinary research, and opportunity for storytelling and creative writing.
- Grade 11
- Grade 12