1. Vampires: Their Historical Significance in
Literature, Film, and Pop Culture
NAMLE 2011
Philadelphia, PA
11
Dr. Sharon Pajka
Dr. Jane Nickerson

2. Introduction
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. It’s never just about the vampire…

4. Vampires & Critical Pedagogy
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

5. Visual Literacy -
• We focus on visual literacy which helps
students interpret, negotiate, and make
meaning from information presented in
images.

6. 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 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

7. “I never knew that throwing
seeds down would stop a
vampire in his tracks. Since
then, I have become obsessed
thinking that some cool creator
sitting in the Sesame Street
studio knew this and thought
to include a vampire who
counts and is obsessed with it.”

8. 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)

9. Vampires in Films
• 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

10. Student comments about films -
• “The best movies are I Am Legend and
Nosferatu because they differed from
other movies we see today. I wonder if
what happened in I Am Legend could
happen today” (Sandra).
• “The idea of vampires or diseases taking
over the world gave us a whole new
outlook on 2012. It impacted me how
many people are serious about vampires
when they are fictional” (Richard).

11. Deafula - 1975
• Deafula is a film about Steve Adams who struggles with
his two identities: as 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).

12. Analyzing Deafula – student comment-
• “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).

13. “My favorite films include Nosferatu, Dracula, and I am
Legend. Nosferatu and Dracula are classics and ever
since they were made, other horror films have used
some of their ideas. I am Legend took a novel written
in 1954 and updated it for today’s audiences. I loved
Will Smith’s character in the film as I could “feel” his
pain at times.”
“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.”

14. Writing scripts and creating short films
Students wrote
short scripts and
created
“Interviews with
a Vampire.”

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

16. Denton is introducing his vampire interview.

17. Sandra uses her theatrical
background when she interviews
her vampire.

18. Sandra and her vampire are telling jokes in
their interview and at the end, the vampire
lunges at Sandra to make her another
victim.

19. Script writing and creating films
• Students in our classes were able to –
– Be Creative and Engaged
– Write their scripts in English and make them
visual using ASL.

20. Vampires in Pop Culture
• Students were asked to find examples of
vampires that show up in our popular
culture. The following slides show the
best examples students presented to our
class.

21. Celebrating the Holidays Revenant Style by
Donovan
If Santa were a vampire...
(5)

22. Vampire Themed Restaurants,
Andrea Amati
Vampire Café – Tokyo, Japan
• Waitresses - French maids, waiters –
gothic butlers
• A mix of Italian, French, Japanese
cuisines
• Blood is splattered all over floors
• Booths covered with red velvet drapes
http://mariannem.blogspot.com/2008/06/tokyo-night-two-vampire-cafe.html

24. Bram Stoker Tavern – London,
England
• Toilets that are
reached through a
secret door in a fake
bookcase
• Dracula themed bar
http://members.tripod.com/horror_guide/resteurope.html

25. Successfully Achieving our
Course Goals
• In our course students who are engaged
learners –
– Use media and visual images when they ask
questions and explain ideas about vampires.
– Reflect on how various forms of media use
vampires.
– Critically think as they create short films using
vampire themes.
– Create presentations based on some of the
media messages they have seen.