DESCRIPTION

Explore the chilling tension of post-WWII America through the masterful short stories of Shirley Jackson (1916–1965). This class examines how Jackson's fiction—from her infamous tale "The Lottery" to her lesser-known domestic horrors—served as a potent cultural barometer for the Cold War era. We will analyze how themes of conformity, paranoia, repressed violence, gender anxiety, and suburban dread reflect the unique pressures of McCarthyism, the nuclear threat, and the rise of the homogenous American community. Discover how Jackson expertly used the gothic and the everyday to expose the terrifying costs of social and political conformity.

COURSE LEADER

Dara Downey is a Teaching Fellow in American Literature in Trinity College Dublin, where she also teaches English on the Trinity Access Program . She is the author of American Women's Ghost Stories in the Gilded Age (2014) and editor of The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies (https://irishgothicjournal.net/). She is currently writing a book about Shirley Jackson, and is also working on a project on servants and enslaved figures in American gothic fiction and popular culture.

FOR VIRTUAL PARICIPANTS: JOINING THE ZOOM SESSION
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REFUND INFORMATION
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• Up to 6 business days before class begins — refunds will be issued minus a $15 processing fee
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