Since the early 19th century, Mary Shelley’s story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster has evolved from that of Gothic horror into one of science fiction: it describes a world that was not yet possible at the time, but with increasing technological expertise, has come truer and truer in our own age. In this thematic presentation that looks at the monster in the novel, Schuchardt will address the various and sundry ways in which we have found the monster, and he is ourselves. From the wish for immortality to the wish for eternal youth, the science and technology of improving on human biology has created new possibilities, and new monstrosities that we have now normalized. Along the way, issues of divine origin, of human dignity, and ontological purpose have all come into question. This multimedia presentation will surprise, provoke, and horrify perhaps as suggestively as Mary Shelley’s original story did on that rainy night in June, 1816, in Cologny, Switzerland.