This class uses a range of literary texts to trace the growth of the vampire trope from its first appearance in English-language fiction in the early years of the nineteenth century. Centering on classic works by Lord Byron, John Polidori, Sheridan le Fanu, Bram Stoker, and others, we learn about the formation of the modern literary canon, the folklore of the undead, and the creation of one of the most prolific popular culture genres—vampire fiction—which reached its first apotheosis in Stoker’s masterwork, Dracula.

This is a multi-format ethnographic field collection of traditional fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Recorded by folklorist Alan Jabbour in 1966-67, when Reed was over eighty years old, the tunes represent the music and evoke the history and spirit of Virginia's Appalachian frontier. Many of the tunes have passed back into circulation during the fiddling revival of the later twentieth century. This online collection incorporates 184 original sound recordings, 19 pages of fieldnotes, and 69 musical transcriptions with descriptive notes on tune histories and musical features; an illustrated essay about Reed's life, art, and influence; a list of related publications; and a glossary of musical terms.

Grimm Grammar is an online German grammar reference from the University of Texas at Austin. It is an irreverent revival and shameless exploitation of 19th-century Grimm Fairy Tales for honorable pedagogical purposes.

This resource is a lesson plan intended to introduce minoritized freshman and sophomore college students to the study of mythology and to its universal importance as the foundation of our common cultural heritage. The module may also be modified to accomodate high school level language arts courses. This resource will represent approximately three weeks of a typical 10 to 15 week World Literature survey course. 

Explanatory Note: This is a lightly annotated list of sources for critical, pedagogical, and primary texts for the class. Since I teach the class with variations, I have included sources for the different myths/folklore I tend to teach (see categories below). I intend to use this list as a starting point each time I teach the course—but to make decisions about individual texts/regions on a case by case basis.

This list may also be useful to others teaching the course—many of the sources below have myth and folklore from other regions as well as the ones I have listed.

This presentation explains the term myths and the other words that are commonly confused with it: history, fables, fairytales, legends, religion, and folklore. After viewing this presentation, students should have a clear grasp of what each word means and the type of narrative it describes.