This course begins by examining the creation, dissemination, and reception of the Sherlock Holmes stories in the Victorian era. Classes will focus on the relationship between the stories and print culture (particularly newspapers and illustrated magazines), criminology, and dominant social and political preoccupations of the age. The course will also examine the stories in their context as having inspired one of the first manifestations of a mass fan culture across various media, art forms, and cultures around the world. This fan culture proliferates to this day: classes will examine such phenomena as Victorian letter-writing campaigns; popular rewritings and visual representations in various forms; cartoons; film and television; and anime. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.