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:
Link via io9 | Image: Warner Bros.
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.
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!"
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).
I had such a vampire fetish in high school but seriously...I do not see a profitable career in this.
Considering that this is a postgraduate degree though I guess the university can charge a whole lot more for it.