In this class we will posit that we are planning a conference to be titled The Promises of Monsters. This requires that we envision what such a conference might be, and what each of us might present at it. In order to do this, we will need a working knowledge of monsters -- the place of the monstrous in history, how defining "monster" works to stabilize the definition of "human", how monsters are gendered, how these themes are inflected to stabilize "normal" and "abnormal", and in general the complex ways in which That Which is Different comes to be That Which is Evil. We will compare modern representations of the monstrous with a few of the postmodern, to gain an appreciation of how the idea of the monster has changed in that transition, and what the changes imply for our own ideas of bodies, subjectivity, and desire.

Class is in seminar format. This means that your active participation is a requirement of the course. During the semester I expect you to contribute your own ideas and arguments to the discussion, and to be willing to take the risks such contributions imply.

During the last week of the semester, we will stage the mini-conference for our own entertainment and for other interested students and faculty in the college. Your grade is based in part on what you contribute.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Any RTF classes listed as prerequisites in the Catalog.

Requirements:

1. Attendance at all classes and active participation in discussion.

2. Successful completion of a semester project. This may take the form of an essay, performance, video, interactive installation, movement piece, art work, or any other style of re/presentation. You will discuss your ideas for the project in class, and at least once during the semester in office hours. We will set milestone dates for your office discussion.

Grading:

Grading is based on class participation and your final essay or project.

Class attendance and active participation: 35% of final grade
Final essay or project: 65% of final grade

Independent projects:
At our option we may accept a very few independent projects. Independent projects must have prior approval from the instructor or TA.

Required texts:
The reading for the first class meeting will be available Friday at Longhorn Copy, across Guadalupe from CMA. This reading will consist of a single essay. A course reader will be available at Longhorn during the second week. The reader will cover the material for the first six weeks of the semester. Thereafter, copies of the required books for the rest of the semester will be available at bookstores nearby.

Classes:
Class Meets Wednesdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and is in seminar format. The first half of the class is occupied with discussion of the readings, films or guest lectures (if any), or demos, followed by a break for refreshments (and ad hoc discussions). Early in the semester the second half will be the same. Later in the semester the second half of the class will consist of discussion of studentsÕ work in progress. We have found it helpful for the class, if the members wish, to rotate providing more substantial refreshments than are available from the CMA vending machines.

Role of the students. I expect that you have arrived in the seminar with ideas of your own, which may or may not match mine. The seminar then is a place for you to develop your work in light of the ideas and problems raised during our discussions.

Role of the instructor. In general I see the role of the instructor as facilitator and guide. I provide some structured lectures during the first part of the semester. The rest of the time is devoted to relating those ideas to your own work.

If you have have read some of my work you will have noted that my methods involve the presentation of fragmented accounts or provocations, with a specific subagenda of disrupting attempts at closure on a common account. Therefore attempts to draw any sense of closure out of my own presentations is foredoomed. What I look for is resonances between our ideas as we discuss them in seminar. Please do not be misled into assuming that because I oppose closure there are no standards by which work can be judged. There are in fact quite palpable standards, but they may require unaccustomed modes of thought. I value your commitment to the discussion, your ability to articulate your thoughts, and your willingness to take sides and to risk stakes in the discourse, more than I do your ability to repeat theory back to me.

Advice and Caution (The Fine Print): This course requires your full, active participation. If you are merely looking for three more units to make up your quota, you are likely to fail. Taking risks in class is encouraged, and rewarded appropriately. Consequently this course may not be a good choice if you are shy.

Class schedule:

Wed 8/28 Introductions, business stuff, overview, brief discussion, assignment of first reading.

Wed 9/4 Discussion of first reading (probably Donna HarawayÕs The Promises of Monsters); purposes and delights of the monster and the uses of monstrance

Wed 9/11 Old and New Gothic I. Film: The Fly (1954); Discussion

Wed 9/18 Old and New Gothic II. Film: The Fly (1986); Discussion

Wed 9/25 Reading: from Wm. Patrick Day, Fear and Desire; Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, The Horror of Remembering the Reason for Forgetting

Wed 10/2 Reading: Octavia Butler, Dawn
Time to make your office hours appointment to discuss possible projects

Wed 10/9 Reading: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Films: La Jetee, The Army of the Twelve Monkeys

Wed 10/16 Reading: Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat; Film: Strange Days
Last week to choose your project

Wed 10/23 Reading: Wojnarowicz, Close To The Knives; Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, Comments on Wojnarowicz

Wed 10/30 Reading: Judith Butler, On The Silence of the Lambs, from Posthuman Bodies; Videos: Stelarc, Orlan, Cindy Jackson

Wed 11/6 Reading: Sections of The Three Faces of Eve, Sybil, When Rabbit Howls; Sins of the Fathers; Abduction

Wed 11/13 Reading: Mc Grath and Morrow (eds): The New Gothic; Film: David Cronenberg, TBA

Wed 11/20 Reading: Barbara Creed, Horror and the Monstrous Feminine; Film: TBA

Wed 11/27 Presentations I: Mini-conference

Wed 12/4 Presentations II, wrapping up, sayonara; essays and projects due

Wed 12/11 Final Project Drop Dead Date. Have a great holiday!