FYS 110 The Idea of the Super Human
Superheroes have taken over—not since the Western was all the rage in the 1950s and 60s has a genre so dominated American culture. We are fascinated by the idea of great power (and its intersection, as the famous line goes, with great responsibility) and have been for centuries, as stories about figures like Achilles, Gilgamesh, or Morgan le Fay reveal. This course examines how some of these super humans’ bodies and minds are inscribed with notions of mastery, morality (or its absence), and various expressions of identity. Materials will include a selection of older stories, contemporary superhero films, and texts about the transhuman or posthuman, ideas often associated with humans’ relation to technological advance and artificial intelligence.