THIS PROGRAM WILL BE PRESENTED VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM.
From ancient gods to generative AI, from Dracula to E.T., and from Hannibal Lecter to the Menendez brothers, monsters saturate our culture: on the big screen, in the pages of our books, in the news, and in our social media feeds. But what is it that defines a monster? What, exactly, makes something or someone so monstrous?
In her latest book, Humans: A Monstrous History (UC Press, February 2025), award-winning historian Dr. Surekha Davies seeks to answer these questions, taking readers on a fascinating journey through our extensive history of monster-making.
Blending science, history, and pop culture, in Humans, Davies tells the strange and compelling story of how our multi-millennial relationship with monsters has shaped the origins of the modern world. A profound and powerful retelling of the history of humanity, Humans, offers a lens through which to view hidden assumptions about nature and society at large.
