David Cronenberg
Instructor Ariel Pickett
Summer 2026
May 4-June 4
Description:聽David Cronenberg is a central figure in the international recognition of Canadian cinema, perhaps best known for his genre-defining work in the realm of body horror and often referred to as 鈥渢he King of Venereal Horror鈥� or the 鈥淏aron of Blood.鈥� To be sure, films like聽Videodrome听(1983),听The Fly聽(1986), and聽eXistenZ聽(1999), more than justify such monikers, but are nonetheless only partially representative of Cronenberg鈥檚 oeuvre. From his earliest feature film,聽Stereo聽(1969), which imagines telepathic abilities developed through sexual exploration, to his adaptations of great literary works such as William Burroughs鈥櫬�Naked Lunch聽(1959),聽or J.G. Ballard鈥檚聽颁谤补蝉丑听(1973), to his universally acclaimed thriller聽A History of Violence聽(2005), Cronenberg鈥檚 work invites a wide range of critical engagements. An artist most interested in the transformative, rather than degenerative, possibilities of infection and disease, he is perhaps one of the best for thinking through the consequences and possibilities of technological change on the human mind and body. Reading Cronenberg himself as a catalyst for emergent ways of thinking and experiencing the contemporary era, this course explores Cronenberg鈥檚 films in relation to non-human perspectives (disease, animal, and artificial intelligences), altered states of being and thinking, mutation and adaptation, and the entanglements of body and technology, alongside texts from contemporary theory.聽聽
Required Texts:听颁辞耻谤蝉别辫补肠办.
Evaluation:聽participation; group presentations; in-class midterm quiz; final paper or collaborative project.
Format:聽lecture, screenings, discussion