There鈥檚 a class offered at 91福利社 where students face their fears鈥攚ell, in a manner of speaking.
Students in Dr. Candace Livingston鈥檚 CON 310 class, 鈥淢onsters: The Life (and Afterlife) of Monstrous Creatures,鈥� are learning how to appreciate, analyze, question and critique monsters that appear in history and contemporary society. The class explores monsters as they鈥檝e appeared in art, books, motion pictures and other forms.
Chewbacca in 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� is physically strong, but creator George Lucas gave him some likable qualities, too. On the other hand, there are malevolent monsters like the one in the movie 鈥淎lien.鈥� Then there are also monsters by transformation, such as when Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. Some monster flicks deal with size, such as King Kong, the giant ape who鈥檚 the subject of a pioneering cinematic special effects masterpiece. Other elements of horror deal more with quantity, such as armies of Orcs in J.R.R. Tolkein鈥檚 鈥淟ord of the Rings鈥� trilogy. Some have sort of a cute factor, like Gremlins, wreaking havoc in numbers.
Sometimes 鈥渕onster鈥� is a term ascribed to a candidate鈥檚 political opponent or an abusive or violent person鈥攖hat gets discussed, too.
鈥淢onsters have a lot to teach us,鈥� said Dr. Candace Livingston, who is an Art History professor in the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社. 鈥淎s students learn early in the course, the very word 鈥榤onster鈥� reflects this; it comes from the Latin verb 鈥榤onstrare,鈥� 鈥榯o show.鈥� To use another word from that same root, monsters always demonstrate something to us.鈥�
Dr. Livingston was inspired to create the class out of a fascination she鈥檚 had with monsters since her childhood. In this class, she shows her students how monsters can be a powerful way to analyze society.
鈥淲e discuss how monsters have been used metaphorically throughout history to represent people who challenge society鈥檚 expectations, and how the very word 鈥榤onster鈥� is utilized in propaganda even now to create fear and mistrust of people unlike 鈥榰s.鈥� We analyze how monsters can be used to divide us and feed our social fears or how, conversely, they can teach us empathy for the marginalized and misunderstood,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 just learn about monsters,鈥� said Taylor Harrison, a recent graduate who took Dr. Livingston鈥檚 class and is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Art and Design Department. 鈥淚 think that course taught me the most about myself, which is interesting considering the range of courses I have taken. If you dig in and grapple with the content, it forces you to be reflective in a really challenging but growth-inspiring way.鈥�
Getting back to this article鈥檚 first sentence about facing one鈥檚 fears鈥擲tudents in the class study the psychology of fear and why we fear the things we do, both as a society and as individuals. They explore these feelings in a journal kept over the course of the semester. As a final project, students create and present to the class a monster that gives physical form to a personal fear.
When he took Dr. Livingston鈥檚 class, Curtis Shirkey learned how during certain time periods there are spikes in certain monsters.
鈥淰ampires were popular at one point, zombies or Kaijus (Japanese monster subgenre) were popular in the 40s and 50s. There are worldwide events that were happening at the time that these monsters embodied the fear that was associated at the time. Now whenever I watch a horror movie, I鈥檓 like 鈥榃hat is this monster a representation of that we鈥檙e facing today?鈥欌��
Watching the television show 鈥淔inding Bigfoot鈥� captivated Stelan Martin when he was a kid.
鈥淎t first it scared me to death. I was not a fan of something lurking outside, especially where I鈥檓 from, because of where I am鈥� a lot of woods, surrounded by the lakes as well,鈥� said Martin, who grew up in rural northern Oconee County, South Carolina. 鈥淵ou learn from those shows that Bigfoot liked to stay in the woods and they also know how to swim鈥攁s a kid that concerned me a lot.鈥�
Martin, who鈥檚 playing the lead role in the upcoming AU Theatre presentation of 鈥淔rankenstein,鈥� took Dr. Livingston鈥檚 class in the fall 2022 semester. He feels that taking the class helped him to get into his role as the famous fabricated monster.
鈥淚 would not have auditioned for the creature if I had not taken her class, because of all these monsters that we discussed,鈥� Martin commented. 鈥淵ou learned the human side of those characters鈥攅specially when the auditions came around for 鈥楩rankenstein.鈥欌��
(鈥淔rankenstein鈥� will run Nov. 3-11, 2023 in the Belk Theatre of the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社.)
Another thing about the class鈥攁 student can opt out of viewing a horror film if they feel it鈥檚 too scary鈥攖he class offers them viewing alternatives.
鈥淢y hope is that what we do over the course of the semester helps students not only appreciate the monster media all around them in culture on a deeper level but also learn to identify and analyze their own fears, and perhaps to understand and better manage them. It鈥檚 a tall order, but monsters can do all these things and more,鈥� Dr. Livingston said.
This course devoted to monsters is a Connections course. Connections courses at 91福利社 use the tools of multiple fields to examine a topic of broad interest.