Monsters, Ghosts, Superheroes and Other Strange Creatures as Keys to Our Culture

Monsters, such as one-eyed cyclops, the three-headed dog-like-Cerberus who guarded the entrance to Hell, dragons, witches, zombies, werewolves, and many others, have populated every culture since the dawn of recorded time. Tracing monsters from Ancient Greece to Africa and Mexico, in literature, documentary and film, will help elucidate the roles they play in our imagination and the reasons they are still relevant in our day and age.

Course Topics:

• Weird animals, real and invented
• Humans' relationship with the natural world
• Psychology and child development
• Fairy tales
• Mythologies
• Monsters in literature and film
• The monsters of the future

Course Structure:

14 weekly online lessons: 10 synchronous class meetings and discussions, 4 asynchronous lessons.

Course Instructor:

Dr. Nourit Melcer-Padon’s research interests include comparative literature, art and culture, focusing on the interrelationship of history and fiction. Her publications are anchored in Italian, French, English and Jewish literatures, and relate to various cultural and historical subjects. She is particularly interested in the relationship between fiction and reality in literature as well as in plastic arts. She is a senior lecturer and Academic Adviser at the Jerusalem Multidisciplinary College (JMC).

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