To celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), we will be embarking on a project that maps the novel, from its interest in chemistry and optics to its critique of contemporary education models and philosophies of mind. What books did Mary Shelley read? What kind of travel writing inspired the polar landscapes that frame the novel? What were the artistic trends in literature and painting during the Romantic period? What kind of scientific discourse was used to explain human reproduction and animation during the period?  What kind of afterlife does Frankenstein have in literature, film, and beyond? Our digital mapping of Frankenstein will begin to answer some of these questions, and a lot more.

During the course of the semester, we will be producing creative, scholarly projects that marry text and image through digital platforms. How does one present scholarly research to a wider public in a cogent and compelling way?