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Frankenstein! Myth, Monster, and Popular Culture

Hear about the history of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, which launched the horror and science fiction genre and dominated popular culture for two centuries. Registration required.

Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein towers over Western literature as one of the most influential novels ever written and science’s most enduring myth.  OSU professor, Linda Mizejewski, will be here to discuss how Frankenstein launched the horror and science fiction genres that have dominated popular culture for two centuries, developing into the monster-in-the-house tradition of Psycho and serial-killer movies. This presentation explores the richness of the Frankenstein tradition in film and literature, the gendered implications of the motherless monster, and the social and psychological meanings of the monster who will not die.  Registration Required.

About the Speaker

Linda Mizejewski is a professor of Women’s Studies at the Ohio State University with a research focus on women in popular culture. She has published a number of books on this subject, particularly on the topic of women performers and the female investigator character in cinema, television, and best-selling novels. Prof. Mizejewski has been a Fulbright Lecturer in Slovakia and Romania, and her research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies. In 2004, she was a winner of Ohio State’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

This program is made possible by funding from the Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Ohio Humanities' Speakers Bureau programs provide the tools for thoughtful conversation, facilitation, and reflection on topics relevant to Ohioans today. Scholars in the fields of history, literature, philosophy, law, and archaeology have been engaging audiences and inspiring conversation for over 20 years.

This program is made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this (publication/program/exhibition/website) do not necessarily represent those of Ohio Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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