ENG-367 Ghost Stories and Haunted History

Course Overview

Since ancient times, ghost stories have played an important role in storytelling and in folklore from cultures around the world.  As we read and analyze ghosts in literature, folklore, and pop culture, we will assess how these stories create voice and identity, and how ghosts are used as metaphors. Readings will include the nineteenth-century rise of Spiritualism, a religion essentially devoted to ghosts; the Indian bhuta; the Hungry Ghost Festival in China; and the role of ghosts in Mexico. The course readings also will help us unpack American history that is on the fringes as we grapple with the ways that individual identities are constructed within historical memory.