Having clicked onto this page, you have drawn back the veil that borders our world, and stepped carelessly into a realm between binaries, where the monstrous may thrive. This is the space wherein our course was conducted, and into it we welcome the very subjects of our study—the unassuming people who helped birth the beasts we both fear and adore.
In this liminal sphere, we have studied not only the shape-shifters and devourers that plague human narratives, but also the events from which they sprang. More than the sum of their physical parts, Jeffrey Cohen reminds us that “the monstrous body is pure culture” which “exists only to be read” (“Monster Theory,” 4). So read them we have; and, in doing so, we have learned how monsters exist as products of the times and locations in which they were made.
It is for this reason that beasts which shed their skins have become so prevalent to modern Americans: As we enter into an age were social norms are increasingly revealed to be oversimplified and oppressive human constructs, we crave an outlet where we may explore those fluid realities that lurk beneath the surface.
Like all monsters, shape shifters shatter our expectations and challenge our beliefs, but they do so in a relatively safe environment. Similarly, we hope that at the same time our capstone presentations conjure images of horrifying beasts that threaten to call into question everything you thought you knew, you will feel at home among your fellow monsters. So please, take this time to familiarize yourselves with our work so that we may all “recognize and celebrate our own monstrosities” (Elliot, “Becoming the Monster,” 4).
Artwork done by Aubrey Fetzer
