Literature studies of Mythology/Folklore/Gothic/Monsters etc

[BigPurpleChickens]

Ok so this is a bit niche. Ok very niche.

Has anyone heard of a course that covers things like mythology (not really ancient mythology), folklore, fairy tales ish, gothic vampires, werewolves etc from a literature, maybe sociological perspective?

There seems to be the odd module here and there in English courses, but I wondered if anyone had heard of anything like this?

Thank you

I think there's a few masters level courses:

Courses in Folklore Studies - The Folklore Society

Undergrad, you can major in it at Harvard in the US: The Committee on Degrees in Folklore & Mythology

It's post grad level but this might be interesting - the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow.

From the "About" page:

"Our understanding of Fantasy and the Fantastic are as broad categories that include several research areas and themes we work on, such as:

• The Fantastic History of the Twentieth Century
• Myth, Legend, Folklore and Fairy Tales
• Theorizing the Fantastic
• Imaginary Languages
• Children’s Fantasy
• Energy Imaginaries, Past, Present and Future
• Fantasy in the Anthropocene
• Evaporated Genres (Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, the Weird)
• Fantasy Across Media (Film, Comics, Games, Fan Cultures, Illustration)
• Science Fiction and Medical Humanities
• Gothic and Supernatural Fiction"

https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchcentresandnetworks/fantasyatglasgow/about-cff/

Thank you!

Sorry, should have clarified, I'm looking for undergrad, although those do both look interesting!

Harvard too, but I don't think we could afford that!

It would be very very very difficult to get in, but if you're good enough they do offer great financial aid. It's likely a pipe dream for most, but not actually for the financial reasons.

I wonder if what you are looking for is actually a course/degree in Social Anthropology?

There are undergraduate degree courses at Glasgow, Aberdeen, Manchester and Birmingham (for example) that align anthropology with cultural phenomena we might call religions, folklore, mythology, ritual, sacred & profane, space & beliefs, gendered bodies, comparative meanings, etc.

Agreed! Anthropology would be what you're looking for. The field is broad though, so check the modules available at each uni - they can differ a lot.

I'd recommend looking at UCL, and also somewhere like Exeter, where their Flexible Combined Honours programme would allow you to combine Anthropology with English, Archaeology or Art History - subjects that might also have modules on the relevant topics

Also worth looking at the Liberal Arts courses that allow you to build your own degree

Oh thank you! I had no idea that's what social anthropology was! And yes I've been looking at liberal arts, thank you!

A friend of a friend is a lecturer in gothic studies at Manchester Metropolitan University

https://manchestergothic.mmu.ac.uk/study/

Comparative Literature degree