OGOM are pleased to announce the publication on line of our Educational Packs. If you teach Literature (or related subjects)to sixth-formers or A Level students (or their equivalent internationally), please take a look by following the links below. We really welcome your feedback and suggestions for improvement!
The packs are developed as a taster session to show sixth-formers what it is like to study literature at university. Our aim is to demonstrate that literature is a living subject that feeds into current concerns such as extinction and rewilding, otherness and prejudice, and so on. Students also gain an insight into how different literary forms and genres work, focusing on the Gothic.
Our ‘Redeeeming the Wolf’ educational pack was developed through intensive live use in several sixth-form schools and colleges before being made available on line. The original pack has been used by 16 sixth forms to date, in workshops facilitated by Dr Sam George and Dr Kaja Franck. Dr Sam George is Associate Professor of Research at the University of Hertfordshire. She specialises in the Gothic and in Literature and Folklore, including the representation of wolf children. Dr Kaja Franck is a Visiting Lecturer and Gothic scholar who holds a doctorate in the representation of the literary werewolf.
The session is comprised of a mini-workshop, two mini-lectures, and a seminar, with interactive tasks, to demonstrate how the teaching of literature is delivered in universities. Three short stories are provided to be read by students. These stories have been researched and chosen carefully to show three different representations of the wolf and the stereotypes that have emerged so that these can be challenged in the twenty-first century.
Dr George is joined for the second pack, ‘Understanding Otherness’, by Dr Bill Hughes, whose research is centred on the interplay of genres in Paranormal Romance. The session is comprised of a mini-workshop, a lecture, and a seminar, with interactive tasks. Various fictional and poetic texts (or extracts from texts) are provided to be read by students. These have been researched and chosen carefully to show the Gothic mode in literature can foster creative discussion about difference and intolerance in society. There is an emphasis on literature and folklore too and the pack explores how the Selkie (seal maiden) can be used to facilitate discussions around otherness and animal/human boundaries.
Both packs are now available online here for the first time so that tutors can hold their own sessions. The ‘Redeeming the Wolf’ session lasts about 1 hour 30 minutes. The running time for ‘Understanding Otherness’ is 3 hours and 30 minutes; it could best be carried out over three days.
The packs have been put on line as password-protected subsections of the OGOM website so that other institutions both nationwide and internationally can be encouraged to make use of them. To access the packs, you must first log in or join us as a member if you are not yet registered.
