Buffy Studies

Whether you're a Buffy or a Xander and would rather fight to the death than study, or a Willow who takes as much pleasure in getting top marks as helping to save the world, if you want to become a Buffy quiz master then you're going to have to put in some study time!

In addition to gaining bragging rights over your Giles-like knowledge, though, there is also a serious academic side, thanks to the cultural impact the show has had through its use of relatable metaphors and strong themes.

It all starts with Buffy herself. Joss Whedon set out to flip the horror movie cliché of the little blonde girl who wanders into a dark alley and gets killed, and instead made her the one the monsters should be scared of. Add in demons that stand in for very real teenage (and adult) problems, a language all of its own and episodes that took big creative risks, like the near-silent "Hush" which earned the show an Emmy nomination for its writing, and it's no wonder academics sat up and took notice.

They didn't wait for the show to finish either. Slayage, a journal dedicated to Buffy Studies, launched in 2001 while the show was still on air, and conferences soon followed. Today there are dozens of books and hundreds of articles exploring everything from feminism and "chosen" families to philosophy, religion and Buffyspeak. There's even a whole book on the show's slang! Universities around the world have run courses on it, and the scholars have their own association too.

Not everyone in the academic world has been convinced, but that's half the fun. Below are some of the courses, conferences and resources we've found if you want to take your Slayer studies to the next level. Pencils at the ready!