University Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form
for Courses Numbered 0001 – 4999
Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.
Submission guidelines are posted to the UCC Web site: www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/cu/curriculum.cfm
1. Course Prefix and Number:
ENGL 2570
2. Date:
October 15, 2012
3. Requested Action (Check only one type):
X
New Course
Revision of Active Course
Unbanking and Revision of a Banked Course
Renumbering of Existing Course from
#
to
#
4. Method(s) of Delivery (Check all boxes that apply for both current/proposed and expected
future delivery methods within the next three years.):
Current or
Proposed Delivery
Method(s):
X
Expected
Future Delivery
Method(s):
On-campus (face-to-face)
X
Distance Course (face-to-face off campus)
Online (delivery of 50% or more of the instruction is offered online)
X
5. Justification for new course, revision, unbanking, or renumbering (Explain why your unit
wishes to offer the course, identify the gap, describe how the course responds to the assessment
of student learning, and identify who was involved in the assessment of the program. Indicate
that faculty voted on and approved the curricular changes.):
The faculty has determined that a course on The Supernatural in folklore and literature is
an appropriate addition to our undergraduate curriculum at the 2000-level. This course
will introduce students to key concepts in folklore and give them foundational knowledge of
narratives pertaining to the supernatural and of ethnographic methods for understanding
these narratives.
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
Statistics gathered by the Gallup Poll together with other surveys indicate that a large
percentage of the population not only believe in the supernatural, but also believe that they
have had a supernatural experience. While most disciplines in the humanities and social
sciences consider supernatural belief to be marginal or historical, belief in the supernatural
is both popular and contemporary and belief in the supernatural remains steady in spite of
scientific rationalism. Since science is often used as a way to trivialize ghost stories, the
other significant functions and uses of supernatural narratives are often overlooked or
forgotten, functions which include how these narrative hold a mirror – albeit a distorted
one – to culture and often express the values, norms, and taboos of a group that cannot be
readily expressed otherwise. ENGL 2570, The Supernatural, explores the use of
supernatural themes in oral tradition, literature, film, and popular culture. As a basis for
the exploration, students will study the genre, form, performance, and function typical of
the study of Folklore, Narrative Studies, and English as well as introductory folklore theory
in order to understand the use and function of these narratives. The students will also
explore the relationship between folklore and popular culture, highlighting the dynamism of
the relationship.
Program assessment and advising data suggest that undergraduates in English and in the
health sciences would like an additional folklore option beyond ENGL 3570, American
Folklore. By taking up a popular, accessible, and complex topic, this course will introduce
students to folklore as a foundational humanistic discipline. The English faculty voted to
approve this course on 12/5/12.
6. Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog:
2570. The Supernatural (3) (FC:HU) Examination of the features of supernatural traditions
as expressed through narratives.
7. If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:
NA
8. Identify if the new/revised course will be a required and/or elective course in one of the
degrees/minors/certificates offered by your unit.
Is this course required (yes/no)?
Is this course an elective (yes/no)?
N
Y
9. If writing intensive (WI) credit is requested, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)
Committee must approve WI credit prior to consideration by the UCC.
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
Has this course been approved for WI credit (yes/no/NA)?
NA
If Yes, will all sections be WI (yes/no/NA)?
10. If service-learning (SL) credit is requested, the University Service-Learning Committee
(USLC) must approve SL credit prior to consideration by the UCC.
NA
Has this course been approved for SL credit (yes/no/NA)?
If Yes, will all sections be SL (yes/no/NA)?
11. If foundations curriculum (FC) credit is requested, the Foundations Curriculum and
Instructional Effectiveness (FCIE) Committee must approve FC credit prior to
consideration by the UCC.
If FC credit has been approved by the FCIE committee, then check the appropriate box
(check at most one):
X
English (EN)
Science (SC)
Humanities (HU)
Social Science (SO)
Fine Arts (FA)
Mathematics (MA)
Health (HL)
Exercise (EX)
12. Approval by the Council for Teacher Education (required for courses affecting teacher
education programs):
X
Not Applicable
Applicable (CTE has given their approval)
13. Course Credit:
Per Week
or
Per Term
=
Credit Hours
Lab
Per Week
or
Per Term
=
Credit Hours
s.h.
Studio
Per Week
or
Per Term
=
Credit Hours
s.h.
Practicum
Per Week
or
Per Term
=
Credit Hours
s.h.
Internship
Per Week
or
Per Term
=
Credit Hours
s.h.
Lecture Hours
3
3
Other (e.g., independent study):
s.h.
s.h.
Total Credit Hours
3
s.h.
14. Anticipated yearly student enrollment:
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
15. Affected Degrees or Academic Programs:
Degree(s)/Course(s)
Change in Degree Hours
English BA
NA
English minor
NA
16. Overlapping or Duplication with Affected Units or Programs:
X
Not Applicable
Applicable (Notification and/or Response from Units Attached)
17. Instructional Format(s):
X
Lecture
Technology-mediated
Lab
Seminar
Studio
Clinical
Practicum
Colloquium
Internship
Other (describe below):
Student Teaching
18. Statements of Support:
Please attach a memorandum, signed by the unit administrator, which addresses the
budgetary and personnel impact of this proposal.
X
Current personnel is adequate
Additional personnel are needed (describe needs below):
X
Current facilities are adequate
Additional facilities are needed (describe needs below):
X
Initial library resources are adequate
Initial resources are needed (give a brief explanation and estimate for cost of acquisition
of required resources below):
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
X
Unit computer resources are adequate
Additional unit computer resources are needed (give a brief explanation and an
estimate for the cost of acquisition below):
X
ITCS Resources are not needed
The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need):
Mainframe computer system
Statistical services
Network connections
Computer lab for students
Describe any computer or networking requirements of this program that are not
currently fully supported for existing programs (Includes use of classroom, laboratory,
or other facilities that are not currently used in the capacity being requested).
Approval from the Director of ITCS attached
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
19. Course Syllabus Information:
a. Textbook(s) and/or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and
city/state/country. Indicate whether text is required or optional. Include ISBN.
Goldstein, Diane; Sylvia Grider, and Jeanie Banks Thomas. 2007. Haunting Experiences:
Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Utah State University Press: Logan, Utah. 0874216362
Required.
Hufford, David. 1982 The Terror that Comes in the Night: An Experience Centered Study
of Supernatural Assault Traditions. University of Pennsylvania Press. 081221305X
Required.
Tucker, Elizabeth. 2007 Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses.
University Press of Mississippi. 1578069955 Required.
Walker, Barbara. 1995. Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the Supernatural. Utah State
University Press. 0874211964 Required.
b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus)
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Recognize and describe the phenomenological features of supernatural traditions

Analyze the relationship between scientific rationalism and belief

Explain the internal logic of supernatural experience narratives

Identify the functions and structures of supernatural narratives
c. Course topic outline
Section
Section One
Topic(s)
Definitions; epistemological problems in the study of belief; history
of folklore and the history of belief systems; ethnocentrism and
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
Introduction, Epistemological
problems, Ethnocentrism and
Worldview
Section 2:
Features of Belief Traditions
Belief, Narrative, and
Transmission
Section 4:
The restless dead; their features and their reasons for
returning; historical and contemporary ghosts
Ghosts, Revenants, and
Poltergeists
Section 5:
Fairy tradition and social control theory; space, time, and the
explanation of deviance
Fairies, Gender
Section 6:
UFOs, Crop Circles, and the
Men in Black
Near Death Experiences
Section 8:
The experience-centered approach; the cultural source
hypothesis and the experiential source hypothesis; interpreting
the belief context; observation and evaluation
“Memorate” and the weight of evidence; tradition and cultural
interpretation; cross-cultural analysis and variation
Section 3:
Section 7:
worldview; systems theory
The traditions of science; conspiracy theories; traditional
taboos on asking too many questions; hoaxes, explanations,
and popular culture; historical perspectives on abduction
traditions
Medicine, religion, and paranormal research; narrative features
and scientific investigation
Health panics, viruses, national borders, and war
Vampire and Zombies
Section 9:
Declining versus changed tradition; course wrap-up
Conclusion
d. List of course assignments, weighting of each assignment, and the grading/evaluation
system for determining the course grade.
Three exams – 60%
Final Paper – 30%
Participation and in-class tasks – 10%
A
= 93-100%
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012
A-
= 90-92%
B+
= 87-89%
B
= 83-86%
B-
= 80-82%
C+
= 77-79%
C
= 73-76%
C-
= 70-72%
D+
= 67-69%
D
DF
= 63-66%
= 60-62%
= 59% or below
NOTE: Beginning in fall of 2012, grading scales should reflect the implementation of the “+/-” grading
scale adopted by the faculty.
Faculty Senate Resolution #09-44, November 2009; revised April 2012