Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2026 - GSWS 320 D100

Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4)

Horror and Monstrosity in Colonial Modernity

Class Number: 1719

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 11 – Aug 10, 2026: Tue, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A specific theme within the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, not otherwise covered in depth in regularly scheduled courses, will be dealt with as occasion and demand warrant.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course situates horror and monstrosity both as visual genres and as descriptors used to mark a body as different.

In this course, we shall focus on the visual representations of horror in films from the Global North and the Global South to consider how the representation of horror and monstrosity provides a ready-made vocabulary for thinking and rethinking our ideas about race, gender, class and citizenship. Our analysis will be guided by Aldana Xavier’s book, Contemporary Body Horror, to consider how the “maiming, destruction, transformation or grotesque exaggeration of the human body” (Xavier 1) draws our attention to broader social crises and moral panics.

Our discussions will focus on how the concepts of horror and monstrosity compel us to think critically about modernity, colonialism, anticolonialism, and discourses of racialization and gendering. We shall examine narrative strategies that render some groups of people unfit for civilization through the figure of the monster.

Throughout the course, we will consider questions such as: What is a monster? What is horror? How does the figure of the monster deepen our understanding of the supernatural? How does monstrosity haunt conceptions of the nation, citizenship, personhood and (il)legality?

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: https://www.sfu.ca/gsws/graduate/courses/goals

Grading

  • Participation 20%
  • Creative response (x2) 30%
  • Presentation and in-class facilitation 30%
  • Final assignment 20%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All Readings will be available online and publicly available accessible through the SFU Library system.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.