Art History 280 - COLQ:MONSTERS/MARVELS/MED ART

Topics course. Dog-headed, chest-faced, one-footed, the "monstrous races" were believed to dwell at the edges of the known world. By lack, excess, or hybrid permutations, they unsettled the boundaries between the human, the animal, and the monstrous, opening up a creative space for the deployment of the marvelous, written as well as visual. Broad questions about cultural identity and alterity are examined through the prism of case studies that draw on a broad range of sources, from illuminated manuscripts, sculpted works, world maps to encyclopedias and travel accounts. (E)