Courses

This course examines the major issues and themes of critical monster studies. It explores questions about how we conceive and understand monsters theoretically, historically, socially, and culturally. Is there a quintessential monster category? Or are monsters constructed? How do social, cultural, and religious factors affect our perception of monsters and the idea of monstrosity? What roles do monsters fill in determining how people construct and deconstruct their communities? Are monsters members of the community? What does the idea of monstrosity imply about the limits of what is possible in nature? Are monsters just supernatural or are there natural monsters? And what do modern depictions of monsters in popular media have to say about how our perception of monsters is changing? Together, we explore all of these questions and orient students into the burgeoning field of critical monster studies.