BROWN BAG SEMINAR
with

Michael E. Bell, Folklorist *

All students, faculty and staff are invited to attend.
Bring your bag lunch and we will supply the beverage
as well as the intellectual stimulation.

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Words about the lecture from the speaker:

"Using color slides and audiotape, I summarize the research and fieldwork I have undertaken during the past two decades to document as fully as possible America's authentic vampire tradition, localized in New England, which is detailed in my book Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001). In a typical vampire incident, the members of a hard-working, well-respected farm family in a remote town begin to waste away and die. The local medical doctor is powerless against the epidemic, which he diagnoses as "consumption" (in most cases, probably pulmonary tuberculosis). Recognizing the dangers of contagion (if not its scientific agent), relatives and neighbors convince a reluctant father to allow the bodies of his dead family to be exhumed. One corpse, usually the first or last to die, is found to be in an apparently remarkable condition, with "fresh" (that is, liquid) blood in the heart or other organs. The tainted organ is excised and burned to ashes, which may be administered as medicine to one of the ailing. A variant prescribes burning the entire corpse while those afflicted inhale the smoke. Commonly, one more victim is claimed before the epidemic ends."

When: Thursday, March 10, 11:15 - 12:15

Where: Library, Second Floor

* Michael E. Bell has an interesting bio and Curriculum Vitae.