TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

(In place of "Technology and Art in Heidegger," the following course will be offered in Q4-2022):

WHAT MONSTERS DOES TECHNOLOGY MAKE? FROM FRANKENSTEIN'S TO GODZILLA

Is technology all good? Does it always help create a better world, a better life? Does human ingenuity sometimes go out of control, producing monstrous and most terrible things as well as sublime and most wonderful creations? Do human beings then become slaves to such creations? Visionary authors, in addressing these questions, have created scary monsters in their works to symbolize the unintended consequences of technological innovations, scientific endeavors, and human over-cleverness in general. These works warn how technology may become an uncontrollable force, bringing about fear, disruption, catastrophe, and destruction.

This course will study literary critiques and the questioning of technology and science by examining notorious monsters or equivalent characters in fiction. It will explore the original stories where they first appeared and their subsequent evolution in the popular imagination into symbols and metaphors that warn of technology’s potential threats -from DDT to nuclear energy, from GM foods to cloning. We will watch Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein create a living being, observe Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Goethe’s Faust grasping for knowledge and power, observe Robert L. Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde exchanging identities, and land on H. G. Well’s sinister Island of Doctor Moreau, which we will compare with the long-extinct dinosaur island of Jurassic Park. Finally, we will view the original Godzilla (1954) sinking ships and destroying Tokyo.


Purpose: To highlight in more accessible ways the unintended consequences of science and technology, the uncertainty and potential dangers of technological contrivances. To make students familiar with the original stories of the monsters and how they evolved to ideas and metaphors symbolizing technological enterprises going out of control and threatening human life and nature. To make the study and questioning of science and technology more appealing.

Student learning outcomes

Be able to question technology and science, and critique freely and effectively their unintended consequences. Be better acquainted with well-known stories of monsters symbolizing technology going out of human control, scientific and technological innovations and enterprises threatening human life and nature. Be familiar with the related metaphors and terms.

Keywords

Technology, creativity, evil, monster, knowledge, power, pride, immortality, control, virtue, fame, social responsibility, fear, destruction; Mad Scientist, the Faustian Bargain, Frankenstein’s Monster, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Godzilla, Jurassic Park

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

Format: Conducted generally in a lecture style and when possible in seminar style.

Course schedule/Required learning

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

None

Reference books, course materials, etc.

1- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818; revised edition in 1831)
2- Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
3-Cristopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (written between 1589 and 1592; 1620)
4- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust (Faust I in 1808, and Faust II in 1832)
5- H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)
6- Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park (1990)

Audio-Visual (not complete):
Godzilla (original film in 1854, directed by Ishirō Honda)

Assessment criteria and methods

Based on attendance, performance, and writing assignments (short essays); roughly %80 for participation and performance, and %20 for writing assignments.

Related courses

• To be determined later

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

None

Office hours

One hour after every class. Other times by appointment by email or call.