In the course, we’ll look at theories of the monstrous-feminine, representations of female monsters, and examine monsters created by woman-identified creators in literature, comics, cinema, and popular culture. Core “texts” will include Frankenstein and its adaptations, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s Monstress, Elizabeth LaPensee’s Deer Woman, and Dragula, among others. For students’ research projects, they’ll have the option of doing biographical research on a woman-identified creator, doing literary or art historical research on a cultural text that represents the monstrous-feminine or a particular female monsters, or designing and creating a monster and documenting the theory behind their creation. Along the way, we’ll do exercises in comics art, participate in Critical Making exercises, and explore using generative AI to create monsters, as well as discussing the ethics of using AI for design.