Today we're showcasing the dark academia design trend. This style romanticizes education in the form of literary classics, letter writing, the Arts Movement, and views learning as something exciting and provocative. This subculture has expanded into a covetable lifestyle movement, expressed through its rich and moody color palette, Gothic architecture and nostalgic decor, combined with a preppy twist.
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You are listening to WREK Atlanta, and this is "Lost in the Stacks," the research library rock and roll radio show. I am Charlie Bennett, on the board, and terrified in the studio with Marlee Givens. Each week on "Lost in the Stacks," we pick a theme, and then use it to create a mix of music and library talk. Whichever you're here for, we hope you dig it.
You know, Fred makes it look so easy, doesn't he?
Just he's so smooth, man, like Bing Crosby.
Oh, well, our show today is called "What is Dark Academia"? Is it a style? A genre, an attitude, or an insult? We decided to ask one of the faculty members here at Georgia Tech about dark academia so we could figure out what it was, and why it matters.
It might start with a novel about murder. But eventually it peels back some of our ideas about the University, and our place in it. MARLEE GIVENS: And our song today are about discovering your dark identity, revealing dark sides, celebrating darkness, and making it your purpose. This is all way too gothy. I did not expect it to be like this.
Oh, well, again, we have Fred to thank I think. The music is all going to be classics of Goth and dark wave.
I see now why he didn't ask me for any music recommendations this week.
Well, let's see what he's got for us. We'll start with one of the first bands to which the Goth label was applied. This is appropriately enough, "In the Night" by Bauhaus, right here on "Lost in the Stacks."
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That was "In the Night" by Bauhaus. And this is "Lost in the Stacks." Today's show is called "What is Dark Academia"? To answer the question, we have Dr. Paige Miller, a Britain fellow in the School of Literature, Media and Communication here at Georgia Tech.
Dr. Miller's interests include literary multilingualism, multilingual writing studies, and global modernisms. And one of her multimodal composition courses is constructed around dark academia. Paige, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
I guess our obvious first question is, what is dark academia?
Dark academia is this internet subculture and social media aesthetic that's really blossomed, especially during the pandemic years, when students are taken out of school and they are seeking some kind of normalcy, and also retreating a lot onto different social media platforms. So we see dark academic aesthetics popping up all over TikTok and Instagram and other kind of platforms.
And through that, there's this literary subgenre that's now come into being, to reach the market of enthusiasts of dark academia. The kind of text for dark academia, the ur- text, is "The Secret History," by Donna Tartt. And it's where a lot of dark academia is drawing its kind of aesthetic influences and ideas. And we also see, looking to early 20th century, modernist literature, and the clothes, the tweed, the tortoiseshell glasses, dark corners of libraries and drinking too much espresso.
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CHARLIE BENNETT: Everything you just said seems to predate the internet, right? Isn't "Secret History" like 30 years old? Yeah, it was published in 1992. So exactly.
Before anybody writes us a letter, I know that's not literally before the internet. But before the internet as a social media structure, certainly before TikTok. And then all the other stuff-- coffee, tortoiseshell glasses and all that. So, have these things been reactivated by some kind of push on social media? Are they being remediated? What's going on?
Yeah, it's definitely a nostalgia for this kind of experience, this educational experience, which is different from the ones that your average University student in 2023 might have. And so, just like anything else that once it becomes too functional, for example, like once the iPhone or your laptop becomes too functional, then it loses its cool factor. And so you have to seek for something that is not practical, and not functional, to then be cool.
It's just like the hipsters, and the 2010s, early 2000s, which is more my era and--
Steampunk and--
Typewriters and Polaroids in the digital age.
Yeah, exactly. So that tension I think is something that's really interesting. The fact that it is an aesthetic, that takes place mostly on social media, and yet it's also this kind of rejection of our modern conveniences. CHARLIE BENNETT: Would you say that it started as sort of a joke form on social media or was it more earnest? I don't want to turn you into a historian. I know that you're an observer. But what's your sense of how it really came out of social media?
I don't think it's necessarily or entirely ironic. I really do think that there's some level of just aesthetic pleasure that dark academia enthusiasts derive from this fashion or lifestyle, whatever you want to call it. So, no, I wouldn't say it's a joke. But it definitely is a performance. And it's over the top, which is part of the appeal. You don't necessarily see a lot of students walking around our campus dressed in vintage clothing and tweed.
But they might go home, and consume this kind of social media, and follow the hashtag and-- you don't have to entirely commit to it in a way that maybe the Goth aesthetic, you really have to commit to it.
Can you summarize the novel, "The Secret History," quickly? I know it's a big lumbering mass. But can you explain what it is, and why it's part of this dark academia launch?
Of course. So, Donna Tartt's, "The Secret History," follows a group of students at a small liberal arts college in Vermont. And they're all studying Greek, and they're Greek studies scholars. And they become involved in a murder. You know from the outset and the prologue that they murder their friend. And so the whole novel is kind of tracking their motive, like, why would this happen? Why would they go to this extreme?
And so, part of it is-- I think part of the reason why it has become the text for dark academia is because it takes place in the standard setting, which is a small, obscure, liberal arts campus, where they're a very tiny group of students, studying with this mentor. And that's all they do, is take Greek. They don't take any other classes. It's really extreme. And so that aligns with this love of obsessive learning essentially.
CHARLIE BENNETT: Love of obsessive learning-- so is that the core of these trappings? Is that the University, and sort of the now semi rejected luxury of the life of the mind? That's the core there? PAIGE MILLER: Exactly, it's being able to pursue for four years of your life something that you-- most people won't necessarily be able to do once they leave University. And even too, I do think it's a rejection of our neoliberal University, where students are here to take-- it's not job training.
It's a rejection of that idea as a college, as just training up to be a job.
Can you think of a cultural icon who may have, maybe already dead, who kind of embodies this look, so people can picture them?
Well, Donna Tartt, just to go back. She is it. She is this-- I don't know if you've seen pictures of Donna Tartt. But she, first of all, is quite reclusive. So she spends a decade writing a novel. Then comes out with one. And then she's not on social media, which is antithetical to dark academia. But she's like this petite woman, very kind of feminine, typical feminine features, but dresses in a really androgynous way, which I also think is appealing to dark academia.
Apart from that, like more historical figures, I'd say Oscar Wilde, very over the top, flamboyant. 19th century, maybe Mary Shelley. Yeah, these kind of figures, Edgar Allen Poe-- CHARLIE BENNETT: You went way back. I was sort of wondering if it was Diane Keaton in Annie Hall if that was a good-- but no, we're talking about this kind of Victorian and romantic, capital R, and little r.
And I have no trouble picturing this because I was studying French literature at University of Georgia in 1992. And I was just surrounded by people like this.
Does this ring for you--
And we all shopped at the GAP.
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Oh my. So, do you feel a connection to this or just recognition?
I feel a recognition, really, more than anything. And I'm just, I'm more tickled than anything else. I'm like, oh, this period of time that I went through. And you know, I have a 16-year-old at home, who's obsessed with the 90s in general. This hasn't come up specifically. But, you know, everything old is new again, I guess.
I don't think I really understood that my young adulthood would come back as fashion, but it has.
I think I'm enjoying it.
This is "Lost in the Stacks." we'll be back with more about dark academia after a music set.
File this set under pn56.l53.
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That was "Complications," by Killing Joke. And before that, we heard "Beginning of the End." by Children on Stun. Songs about experimenting with a new style, and finding who you really are.
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This is "Lost in the Stacks." And today's show asks, what is dark academia? For help answering that question we're speaking with Dr. Paige Miller, an instructor in the writing and communication program at Georgia Tech. So we were talking off mic, and it was clear that this is something you really enjoy, just that you take pleasure from aesthetically. You know, you were talking about some of the outfits. And also, it appeals to you as a thinking person.
Can you translate that into why is this interesting to you as an academic?
Of course. So, as with most of our research projects as academics, it comes out of this personal interest. And I would say that it's really embedded in my experience as an undergraduate. So, I grew up in a really small town in rural Texas. And when I went off to college, that was my first time leaving this very sheltered place. And I did not take off like most students do in college. I'm a social person, and I have friends. And I had a good time.
But I wasn't like partying a lot or I didn't do Greek life. And 80% of my school was Greek. And, so, I retreated a lot, and not in a like lonely or depressed way. But I retreated to the library a lot, and my fondest memories of college were my classes and studying I think that kind of outs me as a little bit of a lifelong academic. And surprise, surprise, here I am. You know, I have a doctorate in English.
But really it's-- I really take a lot of pleasure from just going into the Stacks on a Thursday night, and it being quiet, and just reading, and writing, and studying, and learning, and being surrounded and enveloped by knowledge. So I think that's where my initial interest in dark academia comes from. And then over the years, as I realized, oh, this is actually something that I could research and include into my classes, and study.
Like there's something here other than just my selfish interest. Then I've been able to make those connections more over the years. CHARLIE BENNETT: Can you pinpoint when you realized it was something that you could use in classes? Like, was there a turning point or was it just an accumulation? It was probably more of an accumulation than an actual aha moment, but definitely during the pandemic, which is when dark academia just took off.
And I was also spending too much time scrolling on social media anyway. And I found-- I stumbled on this aesthetic that I was like, oh, this is really nice. I like the tones and the pictures. I like the way that they're setting up their desks and their study areas. And, so, I think then I really started to take seriously some of the literary works that I had read previously, like "The Secret History," and thinking, oh, there's something here. There is a market there. And there's interest.
And it's definitely a trend. Like, I won't be able to write an article on dark academia in 10 years. But, I can do one now that definitely overlaps with my research.
Why can't you write one in 10 years?
Well, I could, but it would have to be a different title. Dark academia as a title is-- it's a trend, which I understand. But, I think that the core of dark academia is not a trend. I think that that runs throughout many of our experiences. It'll just be something called something else then. CHARLIE BENNETT: So, I totally relate to the need for some kind of comfort during pandemic lockdowns and quarantine.
And that's what I'm hearing from you, is sort of a recognition and a comfort, not only because it sounds like a kind of comfortable style, like academic hygge or something. But, also, to see yourself when-- I also enjoyed hiding out in the library in school. And I think sometimes people thought that that was not cool at all. And so a little bit of validation, post academic experience, is that part of the comfort? Definitely.
And too, going back to this idea of comfort, like, you think about the pandemic. And I was writing my dissertation at the time. And I would spent-- I would go to the library to write my dissertation. And then I couldn't do that anymore. I couldn't go check out books that I needed for my research anymore. And so, yeah, it was a way to kind of recreate that nostalgic feeling that I had for a part of my life, that was so integral to my identity as a student.
And then go to my little corner of my room that was my at home office at the time, so, it is academic validation.
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Is dark academia here at Georgia Tech?
That's what we're trying to find out. So, I'm teaching this class this semester, and the theme is dark academia. And one of the things that we're discussing is like, how-- what's the-- how applicable is this to Georgia Tech's students' experiences at a Technology Institute? It looks very different than maybe what I've described as dark academia. Like it's not Oxford. It's not Cambridge. It's still academically rigorous.
But, it seems like a reaction to what Georgia Tech is. I mean, you said the neoliberal University. And that is the Technological Institute, right? The Defense Department funded Technological Institute-- and I don't think that anyone here is like a cold, unthinking cog. But I don't see that kind of-- well, first off, it gets a little too hot in the summer, right? And it doesn't quite get cold enough in the winter, I mean, today notwithstanding.
But also just like the modernist horror of some of these buildings, the squared off aspect, and the lack of wood, and all the brick, doesn't seem to reflect the kind of warm wood tone that I hear in your descriptions of dark academia.
Well, there are some secret corners on campus, I will say. I just so happened to be teaching in a building this semester that I was-- I've never been in. It's the Modern Languages building. So it's perfect for kind of my research interest. And it's gorgeous. It's this old-- it's on the kind of old side of campus, I guess. And yeah, there's wood, hardwood floors. And it's just-- it's brick. And it's a beautiful building. And, so, it's a perfect setting for our discussions.
Marlee, you're Modern Languages liaison. Can you confirm or deny this?
I can confirm, yeah. And they've modernized a lot of the interior. But that was an old dorm on the old campus. And so it really does, like if you think about all the students who were there, I don't know. That's a question I have, is like, does dark academia have more to do with the students or the professors?
I think students.
Yeah.
I-- yeah. Professors are characters in this universe as well. But I really think it's about students, and finding that identity, and feeling like a little bit of an outsider, but an insider in this small microcosm. So, yeah, I think it's student driven.
Yeah, I like to think that about-- well, about Georgia Tech, you know. I'm not going to get into the whole like we're run by engineers or computer scientists, who are the opposite of what I think of.
I only laugh, Marlee, because so many things librarians want start with, "I would like to think that."
Yeah, yeah. Well, while we're thinking on that, you are listening to "Lost in the Stacks," and we will talk more about dark academia with Dr. Paige Miller on the left side of the hour.
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Hey guys, this is Frederick from Future Oak Records. You are listening to "Lost in the Stacks" on WREK Atlanta.
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CHARLIE BENNETT: Today's show is called, "What is Dark Academia?" And if that's the question, why wouldn't the answer be in a special edition of an online academic journal? This is from "The Introduction to the Dark Academia Cluster," on post 45, written by Olivia Stowell and Mitch Thoreau. They describe three ways to think of dark academia, as genre, vibe, and a structure of feeling.
And then they go on to write, "far from competing with one another, these three rubrics help us understand dark academia as a mobile aesthetic formation, that operates on a range of scales. From the stylistic tics of a text, to the grim machinery of the neoliberal University itself, that grim machinery is at its most overt in plans for 11 story, windowless, dorm buildings.
Lawsuits alleging that student loan companies dispense predatory loans, and universities themselves illegally collude to restrict financial support, or University presidents using their work emails to engage in inappropriate relationships with their subordinates. Yet, these outsized, memable events don't even capture the quotidian cruelty of life in the University for many, if not most, of its workers.
All of this to say, the subterfuge and abuse, endemic to the plots of dark academia fictions, may not be so far adrift of the day to day workings of the contemporary University." Well, while we think about that, we're also going to file this set under LD4707.M67.
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That was "Christine," by Siouxsie and the Banshees. And before that, "Evelyn," by Clan of-- I'm going to go with a Xymox.
Sure.
OK, songs about the dark side of who you are and what you do.
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This is "Lost in the Stacks," and today's show is called "What is Dark Academia?" Our guest is Dr. Paige Miller from the writing and communication program at Georgia Tech. And one of the things that faculty in that program do is teach English 1101 and 1102. So, I think we're curious-- we were talking about this a little bit during the break. How do you-- how have your students reacted?
Yeah, I'm teaching English 1102 this semester. And the focus is on dark academia. So we are exploring and examining the origins of dark academia, critiques of it, and also the applicability of it to their lives here at Georgia Tech, because, as we mentioned, it looks-- their lives look different than this kind of picturesque lives of students in "The Secret History." But, in a lot of ways. I think that they do find some kind of joy in it.
And we've had some really great conversations to this point. And one thing that I've noticed is that, even though they might be studying STEM, or studying business, and they are focused on their careers, where they're going after Georgia Tech, a lot of them really enjoy literary analysis. I think this is something that they get so used to doing throughout school. A lot of them-- they took AP English and AP Lit.
And some of the projects they talk about having done in high school, I'm like, wow, that's what I was doing as an undergrad English major. So they enjoy it. They like getting into the text. And I set them up in a circle in class. And we have these discussions. For me, the best moment of class is when I can give them this luxury for 10 minutes, of leaving the practical world, and just thinking about the Impractical, just spending a 10, 15 minutes discussion on something that is aesthetic.
And it's a vibe like as you mentioned earlier, Charlie. And it's giving them that luxury. And then we can go back to the effective communication strategies. And when I can weave that together for them, and it's often not me making those connections, it's the students themselves, then I consider that a successful day of learning. So we've had some days like that so far this semester.
And I'm interested to see how the course develops, and how their learning develops as we get into some of the other multimodal projects, that are less traditional literary analysis essays like close readings. We're going to be doing a podcast in the semester. They're creating a group website to then display and then feature their podcast, and some of their work. So, yeah, we'll see where it goes. But so far, they seem to really be enjoying it. And they have thoughts on is this just posturing?
Is it pretentious? Is it really as accessible as we might, or I might, make it out to be on social media? I always say, oh, this is a really accessible space. Is it really? Is it useful?
Do they have an answer for that? I mean, do they see themselves in this or do they see an idea that's compelling?
I don't want to speak entirely for them. But I can tell in our conversations that they do see themselves, especially in some of the struggles that the characters are having in "The Secret History," with their kind of insecurities, finding their place in college, dealing with the pressure of trying to create who they're supposed to be, and who they're going to be for the rest of college. And also just like maybe a disillusion. You spend all this time working to get to college.
And now you're here, and you don't like your roommate. Or you're forced to take this English class with Dr. Miller. And it's not everything that you imagined it to be. But in a lot of ways, it's more.
And part of what dark academia does really well I think is that it uncovers some of the mysteries of the University, and like the unspoken rules, that whether or not you came your first Gen, or maybe you'd come from a long line of family members who've gone to college, there's still unspoken rules about this little microcosm that we all interact in for just a short period.
And you're new, just like your students are. You're new to Georgia Tech. Has dark academia helped you learn about Georgia Tech yourself?
Yeah, it has. It's-- because when I came in-- Georgia Tech students are described as being very intelligent, very driven and hardworking, and up for the challenge, which I see as something as a current through dark academia. But, also, there is this level of just like adolescent laziness. And so, like, I think it's humanizing in a way, to see your Georgia Tech students as not just this robot. Like they also-- they should have a lazy day. They should go off and do something silly.
It's this time to have those experiences.
This is so funny to me, partly because when I came to school, the vibe that was cool was postmodernism. And I should say our guest just rolled her eyes when I said that.
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And a lot of what we sort of took on as an affect was the incomprehensibility of academic work. You know, Lacan and Deleuze, and you know, Kristeva and trying to interact with texts that rejected us. And this is the opposite. Interacting with texts that kind of reflect an academic back, a student back, and comfort, and bring some kind of warmth, you know, literal and figurative to the academic experience.
So, I would say that dark academia, or dark academic fiction, yes, does that. But then it's such a intertextual genre because the text that the students are studying in these narratives often are not the comforting texts. Like in "The Secret History," they're studying the Greek classics. They're learning this dead language. Like it's very challenging and difficult. It's not necessarily comforting.
And so I think that's part of it, is reading the book that's comforting, but within it, you somehow interact with this really challenging literature. I'm surprised that Joyce isn't in a dark academic fiction more often. T.S Eliot comes up quite a bit I think, "The Wasteland." CHARLIE BENNETT: Gosh, I feel like we could spend a whole hour on why Joyce not Eliot. We're almost out of time.
So I just want to acknowledge the Harry Potter connection here, because what you just said, reading the text that is comforting, but you're engaging with hard stuff, like in the Harry Potter books, someone is trying to kill students. Someone does kill students. And yet, also Harry Potter, I think, is one of the most comforting literature or literary events of this century. So, yeah, it's a nice little conundrum to go with it too. And we're out.
Our guest today is Dr. Paige Miller, a Britain fellow in the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech. We've been speaking to her about dark academia. Paige, thanks for being on the show, and for bringing this topic to us. It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
File this set under CB19.J33.
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Oh my goodness.
Gong.
Fred.
Thanks Fred. Thank you for-- you just heard "Glory," by Garden of Delight, and started our set with something maybe a little more familiar, "Doubt" by The Cure. Those are songs about finding yourself interested in darkness, and then celebrating it, and making it your purpose.
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Today's show is called "What is Dark Academia?" Marlee, shall we finish off with a little self-examination?
Why not?
Do you have any dark academia qualities in you?
Other than just simply being a librarian?
I mean, I feel like maybe that's sort of the gimme on this one. But, also, our library has very little wood in it. So, but, I'm talking about you as an individual.
Yeah, I am still really tickled at this whole aesthetic of a period of time that I actually lived through.
Yeah.
And I do love to see it. I don't know that I always bring it out in myself. But--
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The other sort of studious, glasses wearing, tweed, clothes from the GAP, whatever--
I feel like you could pull off some tweed.
Yeah, probably. So what about you, Charlie? CHARLIE BENNETT: Well, I could not. I am very not dark academia, except for one thing, besides being a librarian. I have so many Moleskine notebooks. Yeah, I just got a thumbs up from Paige in the studio. I have so many Moleskine notebooks. I try to balance those out with my old marble composition books, and my field notes notebooks. But really, once you get down to it, I just have so many notebooks.
And I feel like maybe that's part of this whole aesthetic. And before I get too deep into it, let's roll the credits.
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"Lost in the Stacks" is a collaboration between WREK Atlanta and the Georgia Tech Library, written and produced by Charlie Bennett, that's me, Marlee Givens, and Fred Rascoe. Legal counsel and a beautiful and troublesome tweed jacket were provided by the Burroughs intellectual Property Law Group in Atlanta, Georgia. CHARLIE BENNETT: Special thanks to Paige. Fred, this music is so spooky, man.
Special thanks to Paige for being on the show, to Donna Tartt for kicking things off, and thanks as always, to each and every one of you for listening. You can find us online at lostinthestacks.org. And you can subscribe to our podcast, pretty much anywhere you get your audio fix.
On the next "Lost in the Stacks," ooh, we're going to learn about the art of wire bending, and why was it displayed in our library?
And it is time for our last song today. We've had a lot of darkness in today's sets. So maybe it's time to turn it around a little bit. And like we often try to do, end on an optimistic note. Let's close, as we reach out of the darkness, by Friend and Lover from 1967. Flower power, summer of love. No darkness here. Feel those good vibrations. And have a great weekend, everybody.
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I think it's so Groovy now that people are--