This seminar examines the age-old dream of creating animate art, from lifelike paintings and moving statues to automata and androids. In addition to tracing historical shifts in the way Western culture has imagined its artificial counterparts through works of literature, fine arts, and film, a major focus of the course will be the effect these creations have on conceptions of the human. Readings include Castle, Dick, Freud, Hawthorne, Hoffman, Shelley, Stafford, Ovid, and Villiers de I'lsle-Adam.
Must be a third- or fourth-year student currently enrolled in one of the following programs: Art History, Art & Art History, Visual Culture and Communication, or literature studies (English, French, Italian, German). Preference will be given to students in Art History, Art & Art History, and Visual Culture and Communication.
