Why do graveyards, prisons, and wreckage sites become tourist destinations? A new Topics in History course has emerged exploring the intricacies of Dark Tourism; now including a literary twist. Also listed as American Literature in Historical Context, this course joins a student-favorite Beeghly College tradition of team teaching a class. Dark Tourism is being taught by Dr. Amy Fluker, YSU’s resident ghost historian, and Dr. Laura Beadling, a gothic literature afficionado.
The first unit of this course focuses on the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Students will learn the historical facts of the moment while delving into the literary interpretations of it through the graphic novel, More Weight by Ben Wickey.
They then will explore the emergence and popularity of true crime as a genre through the groundbreaking ‘nonfiction novel’ In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and the many different versions.
As part of the course, the Reeder Endowment in History is funding local excursions to some of the dark tourism sites of Ohio. The first trip was to The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, Friday, September 11th, 2026. Here, students toured the facilities, – made famous by the film The Shawshank Redemption – learned about the history and mission of the reformatory and potentially felt the tingle of a ghost whispering in their ear.
Soon, students will travel to the Great Lakes Science Center to see their exhibit on the Titanic, and later go on the Warren Ghost Walk. The course is also offering an optional trip to Washington D.C. to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Students who do not take this trip can opt to complete an alternative research assignment. One student taking this option proposed the topic of researching YSU’s 9/11 memorial work.
Two professors co-teaching a course is a newer teaching tactic that is quickly becoming a favorite of students and professors alike. Drs. Beadling and Fluker had previously taught the course Science Fiction in Film, History, and Culture in the fall semester of 2024 where they collaborated with the Trumbull County Historical Society (TCHS) on their new National Museum of Science Fiction. The history program frequently has students intern at the TCHS, and hired a history student to intern at the National Museum of Science Fiction.
Drs. Beadling and Fluker had also attended the National Endowment for the Humanities three-week summer institute on the New England Gothic in the summer of 2024, and presented at the Society for the Study of the American Gothic in March of 2026 so, “it made sense to do something gothic-y!” Dr. Beadling stated.
Team teaching courses is relatively naturally to the college as a whole, but the Department of English and World Languages and the History Program complements each other particularly well. These areas of study work together to create a larger cultural understanding by adding content to each field. A historical context is necessary to interpret a piece of literature, and a literary context adds to the understanding of culture in a given historical moment. Beeghly College has also offered team taught courses in Philosophy and Political Science, and is proposing a new co-taught course in Education.
Dark Tourism further became collaborative as 10 students from the Criminal Justice program in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services attended the tour of The Ohio State Reformatory.
Dr. Fluker is no stranger to a ghost story as she recently published the book, “Haunted by Memory: Ghost Stories of the American Civil War” through the University of Tennessee Press which debuted at the Society for Civil War Historians conference in Richmond, Virginia in May 2026. She is an associate professor in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department and a Civil War historian. She has been named a YSU Distinguished Professor in service, teaching, and scholarship.
Dr. Beadling became the new chair of the English and World Languages Department in July 2026. She has been at YSU for 13 years, teaching film studies, screenwriting, literature, and writing. She won the Distinguished Professorship in Teaching last year and the Distinguished Professorship in Service the year before. Her research focuses on contemporary American independent film, gender and genre, and graphic novels.
The Content Why do graveyards, prisons, and wreckage sites become tourist destinations? A new Topics in History course has emerged exploring the intricacies of Dark
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