February 14-18, 2018 at the University of Oklahoma, Norman 3 credits

Jerrold E. Hogel, University of Arizona

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Mary Shelley's original novel -- Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus  -- this seminar, starting with its students reading the original 1818 text, will explore 

• (a) the symbolic meanings of that original version, given the wide range of cultural ingredients that went into it;
• (b) the most influential interpretations of the novel itself since its first appearance, with some attention to what each interpreter assumes;
• (c) some exemplary adaptations of Frankenstein on film across the 20th and 21st centuries, including why they all change the original in their own ways;
• (d) the ongoing significance today of the issues that Frankenstein raises, from problems involving gender, race, and class to the burning questions connected right at this time to genetic engineering.