ENG 2700 - DARK ACADEMIA: AESTHETICS, POLTCS, AND MYTHS OF HIGHER LEARNING

credits: 3.0
Crosslisted/Same As: MCD 2700
ENG 2700-MCD 2700. From the Harry Potter phenomena at the end of the twentieth-century to social media moodboards during the global COVID-19 pandemic featuring candles, leather-bound books, tweed clothing, a skull or two, Dark Academia is a newly-termed aesthetic that has roots in the literary Gothic, mystery, and fantasy genres that stretch back to the nineteenth century. While its narrative kernel involves scholars (or students) who encounter secrets, whether of taboo practices, murderous plots, or supernatural powers its most salient feature is a kind of vibe: an otherworldly stasis that, in an uncanny way, condenses layers of Western history, politics, and culture. Popular legend has anointed the 1992 thriller The Secret History by Donna Tartt as the genre’s ur-text, but popular examples of Dark Academia can be identified in the 1980s cult favorite Dead Poet’s Society (1989), the mid-century American gothic narratives from Shirley Jackson set in New England college towns, interwar novels by Elizabeth Bowen and Evelyn Waugh, Oscar Wilde’s celebration of turn-of-the-century decadence, and even the 1818 masterpiece by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. What, then, is Dark Academia, and why is it capturing cultural interest now? Is it nostalgia for mythical and unattainable Anglo-centric elitism, or is it democratization and decolonization of Oxbridge aesthetics? Is it fetishization of privileged whiteness, or is it a celebration of social outcasts and queerness? Is it feminist or misogynistic? Is it peak commodification, anti-capitalist, or reappropriation of art for art’s sake? Is it really a literary genre or merely a social media trend? And what, after all, can we learn from Dark Academia about our relationships with academia-or knowledge-itself? In the course will first construct a definition of Dark Academia by engaging with related aesthetic, narrative, and cultural frameworks, then explore examples of novels, film, streaming TV, and social media. Students will apply these frameworks and discussions to a final media curation project. Objectives: A) Analyze and synthesize primary and secondary texts through written assignments and discussions; B) Define a cultural genere by applying theory and methods from literary and media studies; C) Explain the relationship of aesthetics to social contexts; D) Assemble exemplary media using information literacy and academic research skills; E) Support conclusions about a perspective or interpretation of the genre with evidence and reasoning in writing and presentations. Method of Instruction: Readings, films/media viewing, lecture/slides, discussion, in-class activities related to assignments such as workshops, collaborative work, and peer review; discussion forum posting; student presentations. Method of Evaluation: Media curation project (25%),Proposal for media curation project (20%), Presentation (15%), Weekly discussion post and response (30%), and Class participation and engagement (10%). Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.