URBAN LEGENDS AND THE SUPERNATURAL
Freshman Seminar/ English 192/ Section 001
MW 9:30 AM-10:45 AM, Lap 252
Instructor: Adam Andrews
Email: andrewsa@uwm.edu
Office & Phone: Curtin 402, 229-2922
Office Hours: T 2-4 and W 12-2, & by appt.
Cell: 414-801-9947
Course Description
Did you hear the one about the Vanishing Hitchhiker? Have you ever played with a Ouija
board and had something strange happen? Tales of the supernatural range from urban
legends about ghosts and monsters to stories told by people who believe they encountered
something out of the ordinary—angels, UFOs, and things that go bump in the night. In this
course we will take a close look at the stories we tell in order to understand the social,
cultural, and sometimes personal significance these stories have. In this class we will
examine urban legends, myths, and ghost stories, as well as narratives of personal
encounters of the supernatural. We’ll debate scholarship which has emerged in the last halfcentury trying to make sense out of these supernatural stories, and actively try to make our
own kind of sense out of them, both as coherent genres of traditional narrative, and as a kind
of experience with deeply rooted cultural, social, and personal meanings.
Course Learning Objectives:
In this class, you will:
1) Identify, describe, and analyze the traditional nature of the narratives we hear every day and
their social and cultural significance, including how these narratives give shape and expression
to our experiences, beliefs, values, and fears. [Inquiry and Analysis, assessed in weekly
response papers and the final project]
2) Learn, critically question, and apply academic theories related to understanding traditional
forms of narrative such as legends, memorates, folk tales, and myths. [Inquiry and Analysis,
assessed in weekly response papers and the final project]
3) Develop your own scholarly voices/arguments in verbal and written form in weekly response
papers and in a written final project. [Oral Communication; Written Communication, assessed
in weekly response papers, the final project, and your project presentation]
4) Learn how to use print and electronic resources to examine course topics as part of developing
college-level information literacy. [Information Literacy, assessed in the final project]
5) Develop an ethnographic research project investigating an urban legend or memorate tradition,
which documents and explores the significance of that tradition using scholarly perspectives.
[Problem Solving, assessed in the final project and reflective journal]
6) Examine and take a position on how various ideas about and theories of folklore are implicated
in your own experience and in the narrative tradition explored in your research project, and
what they suggest about the meaning or importance of the elements of those experiences,
narratives, and traditions. [Critical Thinking, assessed in weekly response papers and the final
project]
7) Examine legend and narrative traditions from other cultures and explain how their varying
historical and social contexts are implicated in those traditions. [Global Learning, assessed in
response papers for related readings]
8) Examine the ethical implications of folklore research and fieldwork, and make responsible
decisions regarding the representation of research participants, their cultures, and their beliefs.
[Ethical Reasoning, assessed in the final project and reflective journal]
GER Statement: Learning Outcomes for this Course
This course meets the UWM General Education Requirements in the division of the Humanities. All
Humanities courses have the following learning outcome: “Students will be able to identify the
formation, traditions, and ideas essential to major bodies of historical, cultural, literary, or
philosophical knowledge.” In addition, this course addresses another Humanities learning outcome:
“respond coherently and persuasively to the materials of humanities study; this may be through
logical, textual, formal, historical, or aesthetic analysis, argument and/or interpretation.”
GER Assessment:
The first of these outcomes will be achieved through reading a selection of folklore scholarship and
research about urban legends and memorates, and assessed through weekly response papers and
the final project. The second outcome will be primarily assessed through the final project.
UW Shared Learning Goals:
This course, in the final project and the associated reflective journal, addresses the following four UW
Shared Learning goals:
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Critical and Creative Thinking Skills including inquiry, problem solving, and higher-order
qualitative and quantitative reasoning (Course Goals 1,2,5,6).
Effective Communication Skills including listening, speaking, reading, writing, and information
literacy (Course Goals 3, 4)
Intercultural Knowledge and Competence including the ability to interact and work with people
from diverse backgrounds and cultures; to lead or contribute support to those who lead; and to
empathize with and understand those who are different than they are (Course Goal 7)
Individual, Social, and Environmental Responsibility including civic knowledge and
engagement (both local and global), ethical reasoning, and action (Course Goal 8).
Course Policies
Attendance and Participation Policies:
Attendance: You may miss 3 class periods for any reason without penalty in this FirstYear Seminar. After that you become ineligible to earn an A for attendance/participation. If you
miss 6 or more classes, you will automatically receive an F in the course. Please arrive to
class on time and prepared to discuss the day’s assigned reading.
Policy on Lateness to and Leaving Early from Class: Because my determination of your final
grade involves an evaluation of your class participation and in-class writing in addition to your
out-of-class writing, it is important that you attend class regularly. Every time you miss in-class
writing, project presentations, or class discussions, you are missing what you are supposed to
be learning in English 192: the more classes you miss, the more your final course grade will
be negatively affected. If you arrive late to class, it is your responsibility to ask to sign the
attendance sheet at the end of class. Students who are late to class more than three times
cannot receive an “A” for their attendance, participation, and preparedness grade.
Policy on Smartphones, Tablets, and Laptops: In short, your cell phones and all other
electronic devices should be off and put away during class, unless we are using them in class
(we will sometimes use your laptops in class). You may use laptops or tablets to electronically
bring your readings with you to class; however, using your laptops for non-class activities is not
permitted. Please do not rely on smartphones to display .pdf readings, because they are too
small and generally too slow to be useful in class.
Preparedness for Class & In-class Conduct: I cannot emphasize strongly enough the
importance of your coming to class each day prepared to think about and work with that day’s
assignments. As a college student, you are co-responsible, along with me and your fellow
classmates, for making each class session productive: it is therefore crucial that you arrive to
class having completed the day’s reading and writing assignments. Students are expected to
avoid texting or other disruptive activities while class is in session. Students with a pattern of
habitually disrupting class or “tuning out” of the discussion will be assigned a
participation/preparedness grade of C or lower.
UWM Email Policy
As a requirement of this class you MUST check your UWM email account at least several
times a week, and preferably every day. You are responsible for checking your UWM email
regularly to receive any English 192-related information I may send out during the semester.
Social Media Requirement
You are required to join the Facebook group for this class, for the duration of the class. This is
a closed group, which allows us to share relevant material from the Web with one another, and
allows your course mentor or myself to share reminders of due dates and upcoming courserelated events. If you do not use Facebook, or would to discuss this requirement, please
contact me at andrewsa@uwm.edu.
Required Work/Grading
In this course you will read scholarship about various belief traditions, legends, and narratives
of encounters with the supernatural, do your own original research on belief traditions and
narratives among your own family and friends, and write a final project paper that uses class
concepts to analyze and make sense of those narratives and beliefs. In the second half of the
semester, each student’s own research will become part of the course. Students will do
formal presentations of their work, and then we will work as a class to develop, critique, and
think through each project. Students will then revise and extend their project papers into their
final form. During the last part of the semester, students will also do reflective writing
considering and recording their fieldwork experiences and observations, and thinking through
their writing process for the final paper. This reflective writing will done in the form of a
Reflective Journal that will be turned in with the Final Project. Grades in the class will be
determined according to the formula below:
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Attendance, participation, and being prepared for class (15%),
Weekly two-page papers responding to assigned readings (25%),
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Project Presentation (10%)
Final Project Paper First Draft (5%)
Final Project Paper-Revised (8+ pages) (25%)
Reflective Journal (20%)
The Rubrics for weekly response papers, the presentation, the final project, and the reflective journal
are available on D2L. You are responsible for reviewing the rubrics and understanding how you will
be graded.
Required Texts
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Electronic readings available on D2L (in .pdf Adobe Reader format)
Selected contemporary films (shown in class)
OTHER INFORMATION:
Class website
D2L (Desire to Learn) is a course management system that hosts “technology enhanced”
courses at UWM including this one. Documents for this course such as this syllabus and
assignment descriptions, along with assigned readings will be stored in our D2L coursesite
under Content. Get to our coursesite by logging into D2L from the UWM homepage. You
should see a welcome page with a link to our coursesite to click on. If you have any problems
with D2L, let me know and contact the UWM Help Desk at 229-4040.
Student Accessibility Center/Students with Disabilities:
If you work with an advisor at the Student Accessibility Center, please send your VISA to me
within the first week of class. I will work with you and your advisor to make any
accommodations needed so you can participate in the course. If you are concerned that you
may have a learning disability, visit or call their office in 112 Mitchell Hall.
Academic Honesty:
We will spend time in class discussing academic honesty, and its converse, plagiarism.
Plagiarism has serious consequences for writers in the university community. The university
and the English Department take disciplinary action when a student is discovered to have used
someone else’s work as their own, or to have submitted a paper written for one class in
another. See UWM’s Academic Misconduct Policy for more information:
http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/academicmisconduct.cfm
COURSE READING LIST (All Readings Available on D2L):
Adler, Shelley. 1991. Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome among Hmong Immigrants:
Examining the Role of the Nightmare. Journal of American Folklore 104, no. 411:54-71.
Ben-Amos, Dan. 1993. "Context" in Context. Western Folklore, Vol. 52, No. 2/4, Theorizing Folklore:
Toward New Perspectives on the Politics of Culture (Apr. - Oct.), pp. 209-226
Bennett, Gillian. 1987. “The Dead” from Traditions of Belief: Women and the Supernatural. Penguin
Books, 36-81.
Bennett, Gillian. 1998. “The Vanishing Hitchhiker at Fifty-Five.” Western Folklore, Vol. 57, No. 1
(Winter), pp. 1-17
Bennett, Gillian. 1999. “From Private Experience to Public Performance: Supernatural Experience
as Narrative.” Alas, Poor Ghost! Traditions of Belief in Story and Discourse. Utah State
University Press, 115-137.
Dewan, William. 2006. “A Saucerful of Secrets: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of UFO Experiences.”
Journal of American Folklore 119(472):184-202
Ellis, Bill. 1994. “Speak to the Devil: Ouija Board Rituals Among American Adolescents.”
Contemporary Legend 4: 61-90.
Jones, Pamela. 1988. "There Was a Woman": La Llorona in Oregon. Western Folklore 47: 195211.
Keyworth, David. 2002. “The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire
Subculture.” Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 355–370
Koven, Mikel. 2003. “Folklore Studies and Popular Film and Television: A Necessary Critical Survey.”
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 116, No. 460 (Spring), pp. 176-195
Letcher, Andy. 2001. “The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-Protest Culture.”
Folklore, Vol. 112, No. 2 (Oct.), pp. 147-161
Lindahl, Carl. 1996. “Psychic Ambiguity at the Legend Core.” Contemporary Legend: A Reader, eds.
Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith. Garland Publishing, 69-90.
Oring, Elliot. 1986. On the Concepts of Folklore. In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An
Introduction, ed. Elliott Oring, pp. 1-22. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
Primiano, Leonard Norman. 1998. Angels and Americans. America 179, no. 10 (October 10):15-17.
Reider, Noriko. 2003. “Transformation of the Oni: From the Frightening and Diabolical to the Cute
and Sexy.” Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 62, No. 1, pp. 133-15
Tucker, Elizabeth. 2007. “Campus Ghostlore,” and “Sensory Evidence.” From Haunted Halls:
Ghostlore of American College Campuses. University Press of Mississippi, 3-72.
Victor, Jeffrey. 1990. Satanic Cult Rumors as Contemporary Legend. Western Folklore, Vol. 49, No.
1, Contemporary Legends in Emergence (Jan.), pp. 51-81
Wilson, William A. 1986. Documenting Folklore. In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An
Introduction, ed. Elliott Oring, pp. 227-244. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
Wojcik, Daniel. 1996. "Polaroids from Heaven": Photography, Folk Religion, and the Miraculous
Image Tradition at a Marian Apparition Site. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 109, No.
432 (Spring), pp. 129-148
SEPT
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Note: The Schedule is Subject to Change at the Instructor’s Discretion
Introduction, Syllabus; The Supernatural: The Study of Fiction or Belief?
LABOR DAY
Oring, Elliot. 1986. On the Concepts of Folklore. In Folk Groups and Folklore
Genres: An Introduction, ed. Elliott Oring, pp. 1-22. Logan, UT: Utah State
University Press.
Bennett, Gillian. 1998. “The Vanishing Hitchhiker at Fifty-Five.” Western
Folklore, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Winter), pp. 1-17
Jones, Pamela. 1988. "There Was a Woman": La Llorona in Oregon. Western
Folklore 47:195-211.
Lindahl, Carl. 1996. “Psychic Ambiguity at the Legend Core.” Contemporary
Legend: A Reader, eds. Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith. Garland Publishing, 6990.
APPLICATIONS: Bring your own Belief Legend to Class.
Wilson, William A. 1986. Documenting Folklore. In Folk Groups and Folklore
Genres: An Introduction, ed. Elliott Oring, pp. 227-244. Logan, UT:
Utah State University Press.
Bennett, Gillian. 1999. “From Private Experience to Public Performance:
Supernatural Experience as Narrative.” Alas, Poor Ghost! Traditions of
Belief in Story and Discourse. Utah State University Press, 115-137.
Tucker, Elizabeth. 2007. “Campus Ghostlore,” and “Sensory Evidence.” From
Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses. University
Press of Mississippi, 3-72.
Bennett, Gillian. 1987. “The Dead” from Traditions of Belief: Women and the
Supernatural. Penguin Books, 36-81. (PART I: The Evil Dead)
Bennett, Gillian. 1987. “The Dead” from Traditions of Belief: Women and the
Supernatural. Penguin Books, 36-81. (PART II: The Good Dead)
APPLICATIONS: Understanding Memorates. Bring a memorate to class, from
someone you know, for discussion.
Research Project Proposals Due.
Ben-Amos, Dan. 1993. "Context" in Context. Western Folklore, Vol. 52, No.
2/4, Theorizing Folklore: Toward New Perspectives on the Politics of
Culture (Apr. - Oct., 1993), pp. 209-226
Adler, Shelley. 1991. Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome among
Hmong Immigrants: Examining the Role of the Nightmare. Journal of
American Folklore 104, no. 411:54-71.
APPLICATIONS: Putting Nightmares in Context. (Bring a Night Terror story
from someone you know, gathering as much relevant context from your
informant as you can).
APPLICATIONS: Putting Nightmares in Context. (Bring a Night Terror story
from someone you know, gathering as much relevant context from your
informant as you can).
Victor, Jeffrey. 1990. Satanic Cult Rumors as Contemporary Legend. Western
Folklore, Vol. 49, No. 1, Contemporary Legends in Emergence (Jan., 1990), pp. 5181
Ellis, Bill. 1994. “Speak to the Devil: Ouija Board Rituals Among American
Adolescents.” Contemporary Legend 4: 61-90.
Reider, Noriko. 2003. “Transformation of the Oni: From the Frightening and
Diabolical to the Cute and Sexy.” Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2003), pp.
133-15
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Urban Legends in Pop Culture: Analyzing Movies
Koven, Mikel. 2003. “Folklore Studies and Popular Film and Television: A
Necessary Critical Survey.” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 116, No. 460
(Spring), pp. 176-195
Urban Legends in Pop Culture: Analyzing Movies
Project Presentations (5 students)
Project Presentations (5 students)
Project Presentations (5 students)
Project Presentations (5 students)
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Primiano, Leonard Norman. 1998. Angels and Americans. America 179, no. 10
(October 10): 15-17.
Dewan, William. 2006. “A Saucerful of Secrets: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of
UFO Experiences.” Journal of American Folklore 119(472):184-202
Reading TBA
Reading TBA
Final Class Meeting
FINAL DRAFT of your Project Paper, and your Reflective Essay, are both due on
Monday, Dec 14th, at 11:59pm, in the dropbox.
Syllabus Addendum:
Policy Links1
1. Students with disabilities. For more information about accommodations, see:
http://www4.uwm.edu/sac/SACltr.pdf
2. Religious observances. For information about accommodations for religious observances,
see: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S1.5.htm
3. Students called to active military duty. For information about accommodations for
absences due to call-up of reserves to active military duty:
Students: http://www4.uwm.edu/current_students/military_call_up.cfm
Employees: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S40.htm
(Editorially Revised, 3/25/09)
4. Incompletes. A notation of "incomplete" may be given in lieu of a final grade to a student
who has carried a subject successfully until the end of a semester but who, because of
illness or other unusual and substantiated cause beyond the student's control, has been
unable to take or complete the final examination or to complete some limited amount of term
work. http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S31.pdf
5. Discriminatory conduct (such as sexual harassment). Discriminatory conduct will not be
tolerated by the University. It poisons the work and learning environment of the University and
threatens the careers, educational experience, and well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S47.pdf
6. Academic misconduct. Cheating on exams or plagiarism are violations of the academic
honor code and carry severe sanctions, including failing a course or even suspension or
dismissal from the University.
http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/academicmisconduct.cfm
7. Complaint procedures. Students may direct complaints to the head of the academic unit or
department in which the complaint occurs. If the complaint allegedly violates a specific
university policy, it may be directed to the head of the department or academic unit in which
the complaint occurred or to the appropriate university office responsible for enforcing the
policy. http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S49.7.htm
8. Grade appeal procedures. A student may appeal a grade on the grounds that it is based on a
capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor. Such an appeal shall follow the
established procedures adopted by the department, college, or school in which the course
resides or in the case of graduate students, the Graduate School. These procedures are
available in writing from the respective department chairperson or the Academic Dean of the
College/School.
http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S28.htm
9. Other The final exam requirement, the final exam date requirement, etc.
http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/other/S22.htm
1 Supplement to UWM FACULTY DOCUMENT NO. 1895, October 21, 1993; Revised March 16, 2006; Revised January 24, 2008;
Editorially Revised, 8/26/11.
Syllabus Addendum:
Credit Hours
The university has asked departments to break down for students how much time they will spend
working on various aspects of their classes.
As the UW System assumes “that study leading to one semester credit represents an investment of
time by the average student of not fewer than 48 hours” (UWS ACPS 4), a 3-credit course such as
this one will require a minimum of 144 (3 x 48) hours of your time. You may find it necessary to spend
additional time on a course; the numbers below only indicate that the course will not require any less
of your time.
If this is a traditional, or face-to-face course, you will spend a minimum of
 37.5 hours in the classroom
 75 hours preparing for class, which may include reading, note taking, completing minor
exercises and assignments, and discussing course topics with classmates and the instructor in
structured settings
 31.5 hours preparing for and writing major papers and/or exams.
If this is an online course, you will spend a minimum of
 37.5 hours reviewing instructional materials prepared by your instructor and placed online
 75 hours preparing for class, which may include reading, note taking, completing minor
exercises and assignments, and discussing course topics with classmates and the instructor in
structured settings
 31.5 hours preparing for and writing major papers and/or exams.
If this is a hybrid course, you will spend a minimum of
 18.75 hours in the classroom
 18.75 hours reviewing instructional materials prepared by your instructor and placed online
 75 hours preparing for class, which may include reading, note taking, completing minor
exercises and assignments, and discussing course topics with classmates and the instructor in
structured settings
 31.5 hours preparing for and writing major papers and/or exams.
Notes
 The breakdown above is for a standard 15-week semester. In a 16-week semester, the
numbers breakdown above changes as follows. Traditional: 40 hours in classroom, 80 for
preparation, 24 for papers and exams; online: 40 hours of online instruction, 80 for preparation,
24 for papers and exams; hybrid: 20 hours in classroom, 20 for online instruction, 80 hours for
preparation, 24 for papers and exams. Again, these are minimums.
 UWM Credit Hour Policy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Document No. 2838, can
be found at https://www4.uwm.edu/secu/docs/faculty/2838_Credit_Hour_Policy.pdf.
 UWS ACPS 4, the University Of Wisconsin System Policy On Academic Year Definition And
Assorted Derivatives, can be found at http://www.uwsa.edu/acss/acps/acps4.pdf.