Monsters: Confronting the Other and the Self in Narrative and Visual Art

What is a monster? How might you defend that you are not one? Monsters hover over our cultures as fictional creatures found across the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, and religion. Often depicted as aggressive, transgressive, threatening, and vial, we, as humans, do not lean into being monsters but rather see them as the antithesis of our being, an insult to what it means to be human. How can we challenge notions that to be human is not to be perfect , as we all have monsters within us? The program will challenge students to consider key themes and nuanced tensions between what is disturbing and what is beautiful; the shifting positions of victim/perpetrator/bystander and “crazy” versus “normal”; the societal norms and the unconscious; the relationship between artificial intelligence and human experience; and the concepts of the uncanny and sublime.

This two-quarter, full-time program is designed for students ready to engage in their education actively, contribute to the learning community, and invest significant effort in a major individual project focusing on narrative and visual art. The first quarter will focus on developing critical analysis skills by studying cultural theory, visual art studies, and literature as well as skills workshops in drawing/painting and writing. Students will synthesize major themes to inform visual and written creative works. We will examine fictional, theoretical, and artistic texts from some of the following creators: Ellison's, Invisible Man; Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyell and Mr. Hyde; Shelly’s, Frankenstein; Morrison’s,  Beloved ; and visual artists such as Goya’s, Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters; Kara Walker; Odelon Redon; Hieronymus Bosch; R Crumb; Wangechi Mutu and more. By the second quarter, the emphasis will be on individual inquiry and the development of a substantial project in either narrative or visual art. We will attend the Evergreen Art Lecture Series which presents a broad range of interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art issues by artists, writers, activists, and scholars. We will use the subjects and forms they bring to bear as a way to apply our themes to living issues.

This program has a signature requirement meant to help you and us identify that this is the right program for you. We seek open-minded students committed to their studies and what this two-quarter program description offers.