Lydia Graecyn
English Instructor

With Cabrillo College since 2003

E-mail: the most efficient way to contact me.

Office visits: I enjoy working and visiting with students. PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT to avoid waiting in line or running out of time. If you cannot make my regularly scheduled times, we can schedule a meeting that will work with both our busy lives. I also often meet with students in the library to help with research projects, so you might find me there!

Fall 2017 English 1A, Special Topic: The Undead vs. The Living

Only by becoming critical thinkers can we begin to make real active choices in our lives. This single skill can save us from becoming the walking dead and instead allow us to live purposeful, wonder filled lives. Writing serves as one of the most powerful and effective tools in developing our critical thinking skills.

This semester, we will examine the historical representations of zombies, vampires, and corpses and explore their popularity as metaphors for contemporary cultural concerns.

"Popular culture has virtually become our culture. If we wish to understand ourselves, we must learn to think critically about what was once condescendingly regarded as 'mass culture'" (Maasik, Solomon V).

Through this critical examination we will achieve the English 1A Learning Outcomes:

1. Write essays, including research-based writing, demonstrating academic rhetorical strategies, documentation of resources, and critical analysis.

2. Analyze and evaluate assigned and researched texts.


English 1A, The Undead vs. The Living, also supports students in meeting The Cabrillo Core Competencies

1. Communication—reading, writing, listening, speaking and/ or conversing

2. Critical Thinking and Information Competency—analysis, computation, research, problem solving

3. Global Awareness—an appreciation of scientific process, global systems and civics, and artistic variety

4. Personal Responsibility and Professional Development—self-management and self-awareness, social and physical wellness, workplace skills



Please visit my Home Page To learn more about courses, texts, assignments, and me as an instructor.

....and please, "Be excellent to each other."