Vampire lore has become both theproduct and the object of interdisciplinary study and offers a rich opportunityfor discussion of issues such as social class, fear of death, gender relations,sexuality, disease, and the relationship between folklore and history,etc. While vampire texts and movies havebeen argued as a publishing fad, one cannot deny how immortal vampires havebecome. Kim Newman argues, “other fashions in monstrosity come and go (zombiesare “in” at the moment, but serial killers are passé), but vampires remain”(Penzler, XIV). As educators at a bilingualuniversity (American Sign Language and English), we seek the best ways toincorporate authentic reading and writing in courses. While facing students whooften have little interest or motivation in completing traditional assignments,we developed a course incorporating media with a subject matter our studentswere already interested in and encouraged them to bring their own backgroundknowledge and ideas about vampires to the course Vampires: Their Historical Significance in Literature, Film, and PopCulture. The presentation will focus on our integrated course whichexamines the phenomenon of Vampirism in verbal and visual culture from varioushistorical periods and from a variety of critical perspectives, contextualizingthe works in the cultures that produced them, and understanding their influenceon society at large. The course enables students to understand complex socialidentities, including the deaf identity in the 1975 film Deafula, and the interrelations within and among diverse culturesand groups. Students read Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend which provides a window into the racial dynamics of thetime and then compare that to the 2007 movie. Along with legends, stories,novels, and commercials, students analyze films from the 1922 Nosferatu to the contemporary 2008 Let the Right One In, and sequentialart, 30 Days of Night.

1. Creating a Course with BITE…
Vampires: Their Historical Significance in
Literature, Film, and Pop Culture
Sharon Pajka, Ph.D.
Jane Nickerson, Ph.D.
Gallaudet University
Washington, D.C. USA

2. Creating a Vampire Course
Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, and Whitt's (2006) "unshakeable focus on student
learning" encourages us to reflect on our teaching strategies to ensure
that we are experimenting with engaging pedagogies and challenging
students to perform at high standards.
Gallaudet University
• the only Liberal Arts university in the world for Deaf and Hard-of-
Hearing students
• Our integrated course which is part of the school’s Identity and Culture Learning
Outcome focuses on enabling students to understand complex social identities,
including the deaf identity in the 1975 film Deafula, and the interrelations within
and among diverse cultures and groups.
It is never just about the vampire!

3. Vampires & Critical Pedagogy
•Engages students in analyses of the unequal power
relations, and it aims to help students develop tools that
will enable them to challenge this inequality (McLaren
163)
•Classroom as a site for social change

4. Vampires- our focus
• Vampirism in verbal and visual culture
– Various historical periods and cultures
• Vampire lore-->rich focus for textual analysis
– Themes--death, disease, social class, & sexuality
– Reading & Film selections focus on vampires from a
variety of critical perspectives
• contextualize the works in the cultures that produced them, and
understand their influence on society at large

5. It is never just about the vampire!

6. Vampires & Student Engagement
Literature – Student lead discussions
– From Demons to Dracula
– “Carmilla” Sheridan Le Fanu
– “Dracula’s Guest,” Bram Stoker
– I am Legend, “Drink My Red Blood,” “No Such Thing as a Vampire,”
and “The Funeral” Richard Matheson
– “The Master of Rampling Gate,” Anne Rice
– 30 Days of Night (graphic novel)

7. Film Studies
– Nosferatu, 1922
– Dracula, (Bela Lugosi), 1931
– Deafula, 1975
– Shadow of the Vampire, 2001
– 30 Days of Night, 2007
– I Am Legend, 2007
– Let the Right One In, 2008
– “Hush” Buffy The Vampire Slayer

8. Deafula (1975)
• Peter Wechsberg writer, director, and lead actor
• Deafula is a film about the character’s two
identities: a Deaf man and a vampire in
disguise.
• After 27 people in town have been killed,
two detectives focus on the murders and
determine that Steve Adams is the killer.
• All of the characters in the film are Deaf and
use American Sign Language (ASL).

9. “I personally noticed a pattern of mirrors and
reflections in the movie. There are many shots of
these so I can’t help but feel it connects to Steve’s
identity as a vampire. My argument is that many
cultures have superstitions about mirrors, but often
one common theme among mirrors is that they
reflect our real souls, which includes identities”
(Lisa).

10. “The thing that had the most impact on me
was Deafula. It is a cool film that shows how
Peter Wolf envisioned a Deaf vampire. Some
of the ideas in that film were clever such as the
religious aspects”
(Amir)

12. Writing scripts and
creating short films
Students wrote short
scripts and created
“Interviews with a
Vampire.”
Randi pictured at
Gallaudet’s coffin door

13. Janna interviewed her “vampire” and created
an old time look for her film.

14. Denton is introducing his vampire interview.

16. Script writing, Producing & Filming
Making connections of current vampire portrayals to
those depicted in the past.
- Nod to the old
Produce short films using vampire themes
– Deafula Remake
– Interview with a Vampire
Analyze various forms of media with vampires
– Create Commercials

17. Achieving our Course Goals
In our course students who are engaged learners
– Understand complex social identities, including the
Deaf identity
– Examine the phenomenon of Vampirism in verbal and
visual culture
– various historical periods
– contextualizing the works in the cultures that produced them,
and understanding their influence on society at large
– Critically think about how they can create short films
using vampire themes