Horror Headliners' Support For 'Scary Studies'
5 May 2011
East Midlands' film director Steven Sheil, who helped launch the Masters degree with a screening of his recent horror film Mum & Dad at the University's Heap Lecture Theatre.
Thank you for raising hell in Derby
”Clive Barker, British writer and director, who has backed the new Masters degree.
Celebrated British writer and director Clive Barker is among the respected horror industry names throwing their weight behind a dark and deadly new course at the University of Derby.
The Masters (MA) postgraduate degree in Horror and Transgression will take students through the history of vampires, ghouls and ghosts; as they've been depicted in books and films. Course attendees will also produce their own original horror literature and films.
Their studies will include looking at the popular genre's links with 'transgression', or what society considers acceptable to depict in art, and how such standards have changed over time.
Clive Barker, writer and director of films such as Hellraiser and Nightbreed, has already indicated his support for the unique course, and his interest in being involved in a future masterclass or workshop with students.
He told course organisers: "Thank you for raising hell in Derby."
Another British 'horrormeister' supporting the course is Johannes Roberts, director of Forest of the Damned (2005) and hoodie teenager thriller F (2010).
He said: "The MA in Horror and Transgression is a significant milestone in cementing the academic legitimacy of the darker side of film and literature."
The postgraduate degree course was officially launched yesterday afternoon Wednesday 4 May at a special screening of recent British horror film Mum & Dad, about an outwardly normal but secretly murderous family.
Director, Steven Sheil, was at the event at the Heap Lecture Theatre at the University's Kedleston Road site in Derby, to answer staff and student questions about the making of his film.
Dr Jason Lee - University Head of Film and Media, with Creative and Professional Writing - said: "Horror stories have dominated European culture for over 400 years, and the obsession with creatures such as vampires and zombies continues in popular culture today.
"There's a new wave of people working in British horror, coming up with fresh and exciting work. We feel our Masters degree in Horror and Trangression is coming at the right time to highlight this genre's significance, socially and culturally."
Students on the new Masters degree course, which begins in September 2011, will study:
- how writers such as William Burroughs, JG Ballard and Anthony Burgess pushed the 'acceptable' boundaries of their times
- classic films and the current new wave of horror directors, particularly in Britain
- how philosophical and literary theorists such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault link in to this popular genre.
A public information event about the new course and other School of Humanities' postgraduate opportunities will be held from 2pm to 4pm on Wednesday May 11 in Room S110, South Tower, at the University's Kedleston Road site, in Derby.
To attend this free event or for further details on the Masters degree in Horror and Transgression contact Teresa Forde, University MA Programme Leader, on 01332 591346 or email: t.p.forde@derby.ac.uk
For further information please contact Press and PR Officer Sean Kirby on 01332 591891 or 07876 476103, or email s.kirby@derby.ac.uk.
