Seminar Group Project: Victorian Cool

This project is worth fifteen percent of the course grade. Groups of five members are set in seminar and will deliver the project on the last seminar day of Term. A written proposal of the project is due in seminar, course week 4 (January 28th - 30th.)

The project creatively engages present-day Victorianism; either Victorian Cool, or Canadian Victoriana.

Victorian Cool includes

1. Steampunk (e.g. the Steamboy anime, books like Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine, pop-culture artifacts like Victorian action figurines, etc.);
2. Gaslight graphic novels (e.g. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc.)
3. Neo-Victorian movies (e.g. From Hell (i.e. on Jack the Ripper); Sweeney Todd; various Sherlock Holmes adaptations; etc.)

Canadian Victoriana presents aspects of the fact that Canada is a Victorian country.

1. Our province (British Columbia) and its original capital city (New Westminster) were named by & in honour of Queen Victoria, and our current capital is named after & in honour of her.
2. Our neighbouring province is named by her & in honour of her husband.
3. Our nation's Confederation -- in 1867 -- was a Victorian event: in her parliament & with her involvement.
4. Queen Victoria's father lived & administered the military in Canada for over a decade; the Duke of Kent lived for nearly thirty years with a French-Canadian mistress (Adelaide Dubus, with whom, in all likelihood, he had illegitimate offspring) until his 1818 marriage to another woman, who became Victoria's mother.

The project can take the form of a blog; a video-taped theatrical presentation, documentary, a short film, etc.; a written collection; or any creative form of presentation.

The objective is to give evidence of a creative engagement with and understanding of the Victorian character; as a means of better comprehending the period and cultural character of the Age under our present literary study.

On the last seminar day of term -- April 2nd or April 7th -- hand in along with the project any hard copy material -- scripts, blog URLs -- that you wish to have included in the grading.