Dr. Amy H. Sturgis

Shirley Jackson is rightly celebrated as a master of Gothic storytelling thanks to her most well-known novels such as The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962). In recent years, however, her earlier novel Hangsaman (1951) has received new attention and critical appreciation from fans and scholars alike. Far ahead of its time when it was published, Jackson’s deeply personal Hangsaman is many things: a psychological study of a young woman’s coming of age; a haunting Gothic mystery; a pointed critique of gender roles, family dynamics, and higher education; a meditation on trauma and mental illness; and an ancestor of today’s dark academia storytelling. Shirley Jackson drew inspiration from a variety of sources to craft this remarkable campus novel, from folk ballads and the Tarot, myth and ritual, to a real college campus and an unsolved New England cold case of a missing sophomore student. In this module, we will unpack this gem of a Gothic story, following freshman Natalie Waite as she searches for her “essential self” and discussing why Hangsaman feels freshly relevant and important to many readers today. [show less]

Last Seen Wearing (1952) by Hillary Waugh is hailed by genre scholars as the first acclaimed “police procedural” novel, a pioneering work of crime fiction that shifted the focus from the lone single detective to investigative team members and their process. Paving the way for modern police procedural novels – not to mention television phenomena such as Law and Order, CSI, Criminal Minds, and other series – is distinction enough, but Last Seen Wearing is also of literary interest for other reasons. The novel uses a real-life true crime case as a springboard for its fictional investigation, and, in its exploration of a missing student at an elite women’s college, it also builds on the tradition of the campus mystery, employs ingredients of the New England Gothic, and anticipates the rise of dark academia. In this module we will consider how Last Seen Wearing serves as both a pioneering novel and a window into its moment in time. What does Last Seen Wearing tell us about the intersection of fiction and true crime? Gender and the Gothic? What has “aged well” in the story and what hasn’t, and what does this tell us about the evolution of mystery-related storytelling? And what can we learn about the blending and blurring of genres from this fictional solution to a real-life cold case? [show less]

What lessons do the Capitol and Districts have to teach us? What warnings should we heed? What road leads from here to Panem? Over the course of five months, participants in these SPACE modules will read and discuss a modern classic of dystopian storytelling, The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. In this hybrid series, each week will include one lecture and one live discussion. The lectures will examine the inspirations behind, allusions in, and questions posed by that month's novel. In live discussions, participants will share their insights on, interpretations of, and reactions to the story. Together we will consider why this series has spoken to so many readers and explore how its messages remain relevant today. Students will be asked to read one book over the course of each month in whatever format they choose. All of these novels are available in print, ebook, and audio format. (Warning: The Hunger Games series include descriptions—for a young-adult audience—of substance abuse, physical abuse, violence, and death. Series Outline: Module 1: The Hunger Games (2008) Module 2: Catching Fire (2009) Module 3: Mockingjay (2010) Module 4: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020) Module 5: Sunrise on the Reaping (2025) [show less]

The Secret History, the 1992 debut novel of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Donna Tartt, has its own secret history, including an origin story at an actual college campus and inspiration from a real-life missing person case. The celebrated novel opens with the murder of a Classics student by his eccentric and close-knit group of college friends. The tale then unfolds as an inverted mystery, a “whydunit” rather than a “whodunit,” a narrative that interrogates the nature of obsession, beauty, and education. Featuring ingredients of the campus novel, the coming-of-age story, and the New England Gothic, The Secret History has long been hailed as a modern classic, and now it’s been rediscovered by a new generation of readers who consider it a foundational text of Dark Academia storytelling. Why does this mystery have such staying power? How does it serve as a turning point in genre history? And how do its haunting themes relate to us and our search for knowledge today? In this module we will explore the fictional Hampden College and peel back the literary layers of The Secret History. Week 1 Lecture: The Secret History as Memory Discussion: Part 1 of The Secret History Week 2 Lecture: The Secret History as Mystery Discussion: Part 2 of The Secret History Week 3 Lecture: The Secret History as Tragedy Discussion: Part 3 of The Secret History Week 4 Lecture: The Secret History as Influence Discussion: Themes and Takeaways [show less]

Once there were seven Blackwoods in the family home, but then the murders happened—and the village has never forgotten. Now only eighteen-year-old Merricat Blackwood, practitioner of sympathetic magic, remains on the estate with her agoraphobic sister and frail uncle, ostracized by the townspeople, secluded in a separate world. When an outsider interjects himself into the story, he disrupts the fragile truce everyone has made with the past and the future. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), the final completed novel by master of Gothic storytelling Shirley Jackson, is a modern classic of mystery and psychological horror with a timely critique of gender, class, and community power dynamics. Join us as we explore Jackson’s haunting insights on isolation and identity, prejudice and paranoia, and memory and mob mentality. Week 1: Shirley Jackson and the Gothic Week 2: Psychological Horror and Sympathetic Magic Week 3: The Mob and the Other Week 4: Themes and Resonances [show less]

Master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe made many great contributions to literature, and one of the most enduring was the creation of his great detective, C. Auguste Dupin. Combining reason and imagination to use ratiocination for solving baffling mysteries, Dupin anticipated detective fiction and revolutionized crime fiction, paving the way for Sherlock Holmes and many other iconic characters who followed. Poe drew on the Gothic storytelling tradition and on real-life, true-crime cases to create his complex and fascinating mysteries. In this module, we will investigate his three interconnected Dupin stories—" The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841), "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842), and "The Purloined Letter" (1844)— to appreciate the inspirations behind, innovations in, and legacies of Poe’s pioneering tales. Week 1: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" Week 2: "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" Week 3: "The Purloined Letter" Week 4: The Significance of the Dupin Stories [show less]

This is the Landing Page for Dr. Amy H. Sturgis's Haunting Tales series: Module 1 explores the context and inspirations of the Gothic horror classic, The Haunting of Hill House (1959), by Shirley Jackson. We will consider its popular and critical receptions, its place in Shirley Jackson’s larger body of work, and its impact on contemporary readers. Module 2 explore the challenges of the sequel or “inspired-by” work, A Haunting on the Hill (2023), by author Elizabeth Hand, both in its context as a response to The Haunting of Hill House and on its own merits. We will also consider how the novel fits into Elizabeth Hand’s larger body of writings and the ongoing relevance of the Gothic to 21st-century readers. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Note: Students can jump in at any month/part of the Series. There are no prerequisites. [show less]

One of the most relevant novels you could read right now was written almost two centuries ago. Mary Shelley’s The Last Man asks what it means to be human while living in unprecedented times. This 1826 classic of apocalyptic science fiction considers the implications of a global pandemic, a rapidly changing environment, and the failures of political and social institutions. Part imaginative autobiography, part science fictional warning, and part ecocritical thought experiment, The Last Man forces us to examine our assumptions about our present and future. In this module we will consider Mary Shelley’s novel in the context of her life, times, and intellectual history. We will also explore the afterlife of The Last Man in critical discussions of the ominously similar challenges we face in the 21st century. In the process, we will discuss the novel’s lasting meanings and contributions as pioneering work of speculative fiction. [show less]

Over nearly half a century of storytelling, Star Wars has challenged audiences to find their own agency and power in the face of injustice and tyranny. The Star Wars works Andor (2022, 2025), Rogue One (2016), and A New Hope (1977) fit together to provide a story of resistance, resilience, and rebellion built on a deep engagement with history, philosophy, and political thought. Join Dr. Amy H. Sturgis as we consider how Star Wars wrestles with big ideas, invites conversation and action, and inspires hope in unprecedented times. This SPACE series consists of three hybrid modules:

1. Module 1 covers the series Andor, Season 1
2. Module 2 covers the series Andor, Season 2
3. Module 3 covers the films Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

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