The world celebrates spooky and scary things in and around Halloween, but did you know that there are universities that celebrate them throughout the year? Here is a list of spooky modules you can take up while studying abroad to add a bit of the ‘horror flavour’ to your education.
- Ghosts, Witches and Demons: Renaissance Supernatural (University of Exeter)
- The Ghost in the Machine (University of Sussex)
- Parapsychology (University of Edinburgh)
- Paranormal in Society (University of York)
- Zombie apocalypse (University of Winchester)
- Witchcraft and Magic (University of Oslo)
- Satan in the History of Ideas (Uppsala University)
Ghosts, Witches and Demons: Renaissance Supernatural (University of Exeter)
Do you love binge-watching horror movies back to back? Do horror novels make you sit tight till you reach the last page? If yes, this is the module for you.
You will be looking at the depictions of ghosts, witches and demons in various forms of literature throughout the centuries. You will critically analyze them to see how these depictions go hand in hand or against religions and other belief systems.
Already sounds intriguing, right? Some of the famous literary artworks you will look at are from legends like Marlowe, Shakespeare and Milton. If you are an undergraduate student at the University of Exeter, make sure you don't miss out on this.
The Ghost in the Machine (University of Sussex)
Any horror buff will know this famous quote by Stephen King, "Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win."
Taking this quote as your mantra, you will study the inner workings of our complex brain – the ghost inside our machine. Through this module, you can try to figure out what it means to be human, an intelligent being with the help of many interesting cross-disciplinary subject areas like psychology, philosophy and biology.
You can study how we view ourselves and the world around us, including why we are afraid of the things we are afraid of.
At the end of the day, what is scarier than being ignorant of what makes humans tick?
Parapsychology (University of Edinburgh)
Paranormal activities, dark magic, out of body experiences, hauntings, and psychic abilities - these topics are beyond our conception of the 'normal world'. Most of us are clueless, or we blatantly disregard them.
The University of Edinburgh offers you the opportunity to study, experiment and find out for yourself. With the university’s Koestler Parapsychology Unit and their 50 years of experience in this area of study, you will be a pro by the end of the module.
Paranormal in Society (University of York)
Most of us fail to think about paranormal activities beyond the few jump scares in horror films and quirky costumes during Halloween. But there is a vast unnoticed world attempting to understand the anomalous experiences scientifically.
This already sounds like the plot of a new horror film, right? In this module, you will study the characteristics of paranormal activities through a range of past incidences to try and understand their relationship with conventional sciences and sociology.
Zombie apocalypse (University of Winchester)
Zombies are a crowd favourite when it comes to spooky and scary creatures. We can find 'n' number of books, comics, cartoons, video games, movies and television series surrounding these creepy creatures.
In this module, you'll first learn about zombies and then analyze the spread of the zombie virus to almost all forms of today's entertainment world. You will get to attend zombosiums (zombie conferences) and study cool zombie artworks too!
Witchcraft and Magic (University of Oslo)
The horror genre will always remain incomplete without witches and their spells. By taking this module, you will learn about the magical ways of the witches and their portrayal throughout history.
Unlike the other spooky creatures in our list witchcraft has a proven dark history – the early modern witch-hunts. This module will also explore the reasons behind the tragedy and progress into the more contemporary occultism and neopaganism.
Satan in the History of Ideas (Uppsala University)
No matter where you are from, you've most probably heard folklore about a version of Satan. Every culture has its own evil demon and his wicked ways. Through their summer course, Uppsala University jumps into the various depictions of Satan throughout history 4th century BCE until the 7th century CE.
Here, you can also understand the social concept of the Devil and the various features attributed to him at different times.
