Andrew Murray is not a vampire. He is, however, the professor who teaches the wildly popular "GMST454: A Cultural History of Vampires" class, which is a course offered under the English department and Germanic studies at the University of Victoria. He doesn't mind being called Professor Dracula or a vampire, but he prefers When we sat down with him to chat in his office on the second floor of the Clearihue Building, the oldest academic building on campus, he was particularly self-effacing when questioned about the success of the Dracula course, giving credit to his predecessor, Dr.
Peter Golz, who taught the course for the last 22 years. "It has a kind of legendary status because so many people took it over the years, at least 200 students each semester," Murray said. "I was in a bookstore the other day getting a book on vampires, and the woman who sold it to me said she took a course in vampires at UVic.
" This is the first time Murray is teaching the course, the biggest class in his teaching career. I tend to think of vampires as very formal creatures – I’d be tempted to go very high fashion, like an all-in-black Balenciaga vampire, or Dior or Hermes; some kind of impeccable being that has seduced its target before it has even had to speak. I think the capacity to alter oneself into fog, a bat, a wolf, etc.
on short notice would be a good thing to have. I’m interested by the idea of the half vampire, or the sense that the transformation can be reversed or counteracted .
