Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.
Mixed Lecture/Discussion
•
Medium intensity
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This module is a standing candidate which means it will be ready to launch as soon as it gets enough interest. Token holders can set aside a Token to reserve their seat for (next run of this) this candidate and help it get confirmed.
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.
The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
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.
The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
| Outline | 8-Session Structure |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lecture 1: Shirley Jackson and the Gothic |
| Discussion 1: Part 1 of Hangsaman | |
| Week 2 | Lecture 2: Dark Academia and the Missing Student |
| Discussion 2: Part 2 of Hangsaman | |
| Week 3 | Lecture 3: Transformation and the "Essential Self" |
| Discussion 3: Part 3 of Hangsaman | |
| Week 4 | Lecture 4: The Influence and Legacy of Hangsaman |
| Discussion 4: Themes and Takeaways |
Required Texts
The novel Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (which is available in hard copy, ebook, and audiobook form)
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This will be a Hybrid class (4 lectures & 4 discussion sessions). Each week will consist of 1 hour of recorded lecture and 1 hour of live discussion (not recorded) for a total of 8 class hours over the course of the month.
Delivery Plan
1. The first session each week will be a pre-recorded lecture sent to students at least 2 days before the live discussion session.
2. The second session each week will be a live discussion session (not recorded).
Delivery Plan
1. The first session each week will be a pre-recorded lecture sent to students at least 2 days before the live discussion session.
2. The second session each week will be a live discussion session (not recorded).
Days and Times
As soon as we obtain enough interest in this class we will be in touch to work out a meeting time that works for the group. Thank you for keeping your availability up to date!