On Aug. 2, Kortni Smith was one of the thousands who stood in line at their local bookstores for “Breaking Dawn,” the long-awaited fourth installment of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga.

Smith, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said she has followed Meyer’s supernatural world where vampires, werewolves and humans coexist since the very beginning.

“I guess the obvious reason I like the books is because of the love story,” Smith said, referring to the plot that revolves around the strange attraction between Bella, a human, and Edward, a vampire. “But it also has great characterization and an interesting treatment of good versus evil.”

This semester, about 15 Marquette students are examining this popular culture phenomenon in an Honors Program Seminar Series appropriately entitled “A Philosophical Look at Vampires.”

Reid Eber, a junior in the College of Business Administration enrolled in the course, said an obsessed friend got him hooked on the series. Eber said he likes how the series takes a completely new look at the traditional “evil” image of a vampire.

“It moves away from the Dracula image we’ve had for the past 100 years,” Eber said. “I like the more complex, human version of the vampire.”

But as with every craze, the Twilight series has its skeptics.

When Chris Burrell, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, was asked for his opinion of the series, he shrugged it off as just a fad.

“It kind of shows a desensitization to evil,” said Burrell, who is also enrolled in the course. “After taking this class, I think I’m less inclined to read (Twilight). I like the old image of vampires.”

Classmate Lauren Belisle, who has not yet read the series, said the phenomenon “sounds like the new Harry Potter.”

“I also feel like (Twilight) might be a little after my time,” said Belisle, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Maybe if I was in middle school I would’ve read them by now.”

But Eber claimed the books definitely aren’t just for teens, noting that his mom and all her friends are currently hooked on the series.

“I’m not giving away ages or anything, but they’re definitely outside the middle school age range,” he laughed.