University Offering Master's Degree in Vampiric Literature

Would you like to get course credit for reading Anne Rice? The University of Hertfordshire is offering a new master's program that focuses on vampires in fiction:

In a bid to make the most of that interest, George is launching, in September, what seems to be the world's first master's degree in vampire literature. "In the months I've been planning the conference I've fielded a huge number of inquiries from people all over the world who are interested in studying vampires, zombies and the undead at a higher level," she says. "I had the idea of offering the master's as a direct follow-up from the conference. I thought it was crucial to have a way of extending this burst of awareness." The best papers from the conference will be collected in a book, which will become a textbook for the MA students.


Link via io9 | Image: Warner Bros.

The furthering of the debasement of higher education.

A foolish and useless degree.

Felix, interviewing a job applicant: "I see that you have a master's in Vampire Lit?"

Foolish and nearly useless person: "Yeth, yeth I do."

Felix: "I guess you can be the janitor's assistant toilet scrubber, but only as an intern!"
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I wouldn't mind going back to school for that course work, pick up a couple fun classes on the side. There are already classes that study folklore, children's literature and gothic lit. This would be a natural in conjunction with the lit and creative writing crowd.
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It must be a bit of a publicity stunt. It's not about anyone actually getting a degree in Vampire Lit as much as it is that they could offer one and get their name out there. It's like those restaurants that offer exhorbitantly priced menu options (like 25,000 dollar cocktails or 10,000 dollar icecream sundaes). They're not really trying to sell them. Just by offering them, they get that press coverage. The college is doing the same thing. I'd never heard of the University of Hertfordshire before and now I have, so it's successful.

I think a class like that could be cool for an elective(and probably a bit more scholarly and useful than some of the electives I've seen count toward a degree).
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I see this as a (one-time) valuable part of (classic) gothic literature but this has GOT to stop.

I had such a vampire fetish in high school but seriously...I do not see a profitable career in this.
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I'm currently doing a masters in clinical audiology. It is the most challenging thing I've ever had to do, and this just makes a mockery of that.
Considering that this is a postgraduate degree though I guess the university can charge a whole lot more for it.
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