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 vile, 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 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 through the areas of creative writing, visual art, and animation. During the first quarter, we will focus on developing critical analysis skills by studying cultural theory, visual art studies, and literature as well as skills workshops in drawing/painting, writing and an introduction to experimental film processes. 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: Stoker’s Dracula; Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Shelley’s, Frankenstein; and visual artists such as Goya’s, Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters; Kara Walker; Odilon Redon; Hieronymus Bosch; R Crumb; Wangechi Mutu and more. By the second quarter, the emphasis will be on the development of a substantial project incorporating narrative and visual art with a 16mm film cameraless experimental animation component. Throughout the program, 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 is coordinated with Greener Foundations for first-year students in fall quarter. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person introductory student success course, which provides first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. Students expected to take Greener Foundations in fall should use CRN 10017 to register for a 2-credit Greener Foundations course in addition to this program for 14-credits. When using this CRN students will take additional steps to complete their registration, more information can be found at the Greener Foundations Registration Help Wiki.

First-year students who are not expected to take Greener Foundations or have been granted an exemption should use CRN 10016 to register for this program. Find more details about who isn't expected to take Greener Foundations on the Greener Foundations website.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:

Fall:  

4 - Foundations in 2D Art Practices and Visual Studies in Drawing and Painting  

4 - Introduction to Literature and Creative Writing  

3 - Critical Analysis of Contemporary Practices  

3 - Foundations in Critical and Literary Theory 

Winter:  

4 - 2D Art Practices in Drawing and Painting 

4 - Intermediate Writing and Reading in the Humanities  

4 - Cameraless 16mm Experimental Animation  

4 - Independent Project in Contemporary Practices in Visual and Narrative Art