'Twilight' amping up college interest in English coursework?

We've definitely heard of Twilight being incorporated in to college coursework before. Hey, in September last year, a full-length course just on The Twilight Saga was introduced at California State University. What's interesting about today's news, then, isn't the novelty of the concept of Twilight being brought into these programs, but rather the reasoning and approach. Whereas the CSU college course dissected the series for hidden meaning, the newest program hopes to introduce Twilight readers to the stories which inspired the Saga.

According to a local Louisiana report, Nicholls State University is hoping that Twilight will help ramp up interest in the school's English program.

“We’re trying to get what students are interested in, what students find engaging, what resonates with them,” said department head Ellen Barker . . .

Instructor Maggie Stocum is teaching the 102 course “ ‘Twilight’ Series Allusions.” She said her course isn’t a study of the books themselves but the classic works to which the author pays homage.

“In each of the four books, Steph[e]nie Meyer pays tribute to a different literary classic,” Stocum said. “The course is meant to appeal to someone who is familiar with the ‘Twilight’ series who might want to check out what the books are giving tribute to.”

The course is built around four major works: Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” and William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Stocum said the class has mostly drawn fans of the books, but some aren’t fans.

“I was surprised to see that there were about six people who said they hadn’t read them,” she said. “There were some who had read them and were kind of underwhelmed, but they were interested in the classics we’re going to read.”

The concept is interesting, right? Studying the relationship between the classics and Twilight? Of course, many fans have probably already done this on their own, and there have been other attempts at drumming up interest in these books based on the relationship with Twilight, but still . . . good idea, right?

Thanks: Twilighters Anonymous