Blood/Lust: Vampires in 20th Century American Cinema

In this course, we will study how vampires and vampire stories were used throughout 20th Century American film as a vehicle for examining themes and topics such as sexuality, gender, race, and class. We will start with vampire folklore to form a baseline understanding, and then study Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1931) as cornerstones before spending the bulk of time on later films. The course content will interrogate how vampire stories reflect on contemporaneous American culture, and how vampiric visions evolved and shifted over the century. Films covered in full will include Dracula’s Daughter (1936), Son of Dracula (1943), The Last Man on Earth (1964), Ganja & Hess (1973), The Hunger (1983), Near Dark (1987), and Blade (1998).



Devin McGrath-Conwell is an alumnus, class of 2018.5, as well as a current staff member. I have two part-time communications positions, one within Projects for Peace, and the other in College Advancement./