Joss Whedon

Class gives a glimpse of Goth

For a small group of Purdue University students, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon represents a chance to delve into the dark side of society.

Students in Emily Allen’s "Gothic: The Art of Terror" honors class have spent the semester following Gothic art of all forms, including books, photographs and paintings.

Much of the class centers on discussing what such works have to say about the society or period in which they were created.

On Tuesday, many students dressed the part for Halloween, showing up for a class that looks at dark motives and themes dressed as skeletons, prisoners and even a German soldier.

Allen used the holiday as a chance to pick students’ brains about Halloween and how much the once-feared day of spirits has changed over time.

"It’s used as an excuse for us to go buy things at inflated prices that we would not normally buy," said sophomore Rob Stith, who did not dress up.

Allen asked students, who have been examining gothic themes in late-Victorian photography and literature, to consider how Halloween has survived over time and why.

"What we’ve seen is that Gothic is tremendously flexible in its ideological applications," said Allen. "We’ve seen it used for state memorials, to bolster the aristocracy’s position and to bolster the rise of the middle class. Is there really any revolutionary motion left in something like Halloween?"

Sam Dobberstein, a freshman who enjoys participating in the class discussions, doesn’t think so.

"Something that was previously taken as an almost threatening time has been turned into M&M’s commercials and if you’re lucky, Monday Night Football."

Katie Mattix, a freshman, disagreed. Halloween isn’t dead, she said. It has simply shifted its focus from spirit confrontations to concerns over poisoned candy and child predators.

"It’s gone from a superstition of the spirit world to a superstition of the world around us," she said.

Students will continue examining gothic influences as the semester progresses, eventually looking at gothic in post-modern times. They are expected to study television shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.