Reading DueMary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume I (Letters – Ch. 7), pages 1-77

Journal DueIf you’ve never read Frankenstein: You probably came to this book already knowing something about it. What did you expect that hasn’t happened? Name one specific thing you were waiting for in these seven chapters and didn't get, and say where you were when you noticed it was missing. Or, if you’ve read Frankenstein before: Name one specific thing your memory got wrong—something you were sure was in these first seven chapters and isn’t there, or something that is there that you have no recollection of at all.

Reading DueFrankenstein, Volume II, pages 81-141

Journal DueBeginning with Volume II, chapter 3, the creature describes his first year or so of “life.” Of the many incidents he relates, which one do you find most striking, and why? Be sure to note the specific page numbers you write about.

Dr. Sample on Making the Monster

Reading DueJulia Kristeva, “Approaching Abjection” from The Monster Theory Reader (2020), pages 95–106 [PDF Version]

Reading DueFrankenstein, Volume III and conclusion. Whole-novel synthesis.

Journal DueRecord a brief video in response to the prompt on Moodle

Reading DueDan Sinykin and Johanna Winant, “Introduction” from Close Reading in the Twenty-First Century (2025), pp. 1–20 [in the Sapere Aude Reader or this PDF]

Writing Workshop

Reading DueDan Chiasson, “Think for Yourself” from The New York Review (2026) [PDF Version]

Reading DueDana Goldstein, “What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing” from The New York Times (2026) [PDF Version]

SlidesDr. Pyle’s How to Write slides

Reading DueKarel Čapek, R.U.R. (1920)

Journal DueHaving finished R.U.R, go back and identify one moment in the text (such as a sentence, a phrase, a brief exchange) which you think captures something essential about the play as you understand it. Write it down with the page number, along with a few lines on why you found this moment significant.

SlidesDr. Lipsker: Historically Situating R.U.R.

Reading DueTobias Higbie, “Why Do Robots Rebel? The Labor History of a Cultural Icon”, Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas 10 (Spring 2013): 99–121; and the accompanying images the author collected while researching the article

Journal DueSuppose you were given the opportunity to stage your own adaptation of R.U.R. for audiences in 2026. What are some changes you would make, and why? Come up with two to three that you would be ready to share and discuss in section.

Guest: Dr. Ruha Benjamin

Reading DueRuha Benjamin, “Coded Exposure” from Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code (2020), pages 97-136

Journal DueGiven that “Coded Exposure” was published six years ago, what are three questions you’d ask Ruha Benjamin about the chapter or about developments regarding race and technology since 2020?

The Golem Legend and its Afterlives

Reading DueCurt Leviant, “Introduction” from The Golem and the Wondrous Deeds of the Maharal of Prague, by Yudl Rosenberg (2007), pp. xiii–xxxiv

WatchThe Golem: How He Came into the World (dir. Paul Wegener, 1920)

Reading DueMark Fisher, “Approaching the Eerie” from The Weird and the Eerie (2016), pp. 61–64

WatchBlack Mirror, “Be Right Back” (Season 2, Episode 1, 2013)

Reading DueFrantz Fanon, “The Lived Experience of the Black Man” from Black Skin, White Masks, trans. Richard Philcox (2008 [1952]), pp. 89–119

WatchRyan Coogler, Sinners (2025) [Davidson credentials required]