In a bid to make the most of that interest, George is launching, in September, what seems to be the world’s first master’s degree in vampire literature. “In the months I’ve been planning the conference I’ve fielded a huge number of inquiries from people all over the world who are interested in studying vampires, zombies and the undead at a higher level,” she says. “I had the idea of offering the master’s as a direct follow-up from the conference. I thought it was crucial to have a way of extending this burst of awareness.” The best papers from the conference will be collected in a book, which will become a textbook for the MA students.

George expects the course to become an annual staple that will outlast the current TV craze for all things vamp, because “vampires themselves change so much, and reflect contemporary society”. She says today’s vampires are glamorous and sexy, and have an emotional side.

(via The Guardian)

Oh boy.

The class that meets before my Ed. Psych. class in room 102 is Foundations of Education, and some woman was telling the professor that she chose “using the correct form of there/their/they’re” as the topic of the lesson plan she was writing. This woman, then, proceeded to say, “I think they’re synonyms, right? Or antonyms?”

This is the topic that I came up with for my lesson plan as well, and I couldn’t help myself. “Miss, they’re homophones.”

Sincerely, if you don’t know the meaning of “homophone”—or the meanings of the words “synonym” and “antonym”, apparently—maybe it’s time to reconsider your intention to teach English to other people as a career.

Please. For all of us.