Monster: Conceptions and Misconceptions of the Monstrous in Biology, Literature, Art, and Medicine

• Program Dates: June 27-July 17, 2025

• Program Location: Rice Global Paris Center | Paris, France

• Who Can Apply? Any Rice Undergraduate. There are no prerequisites for this course, although we will prioritize students who have taken FWIS 100. We are looking for an eclectic group of students who come from a variety of different backgrounds, both in life and academia. Ideally, our class composition would include majors from all of the different schools at Rice - music, architecture, natural sciences, humanities, etc. We are looking for students who are taking the course because they're excited about the subject material. Note for graduating seniors! You are welcome to apply to this course; however, Rice summer aid (i.e. Rice financial aid) is not available to seniors who have obtained enough credits to graduate by the end of the spring semester. Additionally, you will have to postpone your graduation date to the summer in order to participate. You are, however, still eligible to apply for both RICE GLOBAL tuition and travel awards included in the course application.

• Tuition Cost: $1,800 per credit hour (this course is 3 credit hours).

• What's Covered: The program will provide housing for all three weeks, metro card for all three weeks, course-set excursions/tickets, three group meals, and travel insurance.

• Financial Aid: If you already receive financial aid, you are eligible to receive financial aid for up to 9 credit hours a summer for two summer, at 50% of the tuition rate, i.e. if a Paris course is three credit hours and $5,400 total tuition, eligible students would pay $2,700. Rice summer aid (i.e. Rice financial aid) is not available to seniors who have obtained enough credits to graduate by the end of the spring semester.

  After submitting your application, our office is in direct contact with the financial aid office who will let us know if you are financial aid eligible for the summer. If you are accepted, you will immediately know how much financial aid you have available in your acceptance letter.

  To find out if you are eligible before acceptance to a course, contact: fina@rice.edu. To learn more about summer financial aid requirements, please visit: https://financialaid.rice.edu/summer-students.

• Additional Assistance from Rice Global: Students can also apply to receive additional assistance (for both tuition and travel) from Rice Global. Application for assistance is included in the course application.

• Credit Hours: 3 credit hours

• Course Instructors: Dr. Michael C. Gustin and Dr. Laura Richardson

• Course Description: The monsters that inhabit our world are born not just of nature but of human conception. They wander forth out of evolution and of language, out of brain physiology and the pages of fiction, out of the human imagination and the studios of art. It is this variety that we endeavor to capture in this course as we ask how our notions of the monstrous help us to understand who we are, what we fear, and with what consequence we misperceive those human and non-human forms that haunt us both from within and without.

  Students in Monster will engage with articles, short stories, novels, book excerpts, and films, many with an emphasis on French authors/directors and texts in which French culture plays a significant role. Students will write reading responses and papers that connect science and the humanities and, often, the personal. In discussion-based class sessions, we will not work toward agreement on who is the monster, but instead explore the liminal, often ambiguous spaces of perception of humans and humanity.

• Who is this class for? Any Rice Undergraduate. There are no prerequisites for this course, although we will prioritize students who have taken FWIS 100. We are looking for an eclectic group of students who come from a variety of different backgrounds, both in life and academia. Ideally, our class composition would include majors from all of the different schools at Rice - music, architecture, natural sciences, humanities, etc. We are looking for students who are taking the course because they're excited about the subject material.

• Course Zoom Information Session: Take a look at the Information Session recording to learn more.

• Syllabus: Take a look at the draft syllabus - subject to change.

• Does this course fulfill a distribution and/or Analyzing diversity requirement? This course satisfies the Distribution Group III and the Analyzing Diversity requirements for undergraduate students.

For questions, please visit our student program page or email pariscenter@rice.edu. The application deadline is January 31, 2025.