During Halloween week there was a series of events held on campus at UCC to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The text has been studied by English Literature undergraduates at the university for many years, I myself read it while studying a module entitled “Romance and Realism” in my 2nd year, lectured by Professor Graham Allen. For one of the events Professor Allen read out an essay on the text, examining what the novel has meant for each different generation, the impact of Mary Shelley and even connecting it to ideas in modern Artificial Intelligence. As someone with a keen interest in the science fiction genre I found this fascinating, to think ideas in such a famous novel published 200 years ago could touch on contemporary science. Of course, as was mentioned on the day,  Frankenstein has had a huge impact on the world of popular culture as well as academic study, thanks to the countless adaptations for stage and film. Fittingly the week of events also included such screenings and performances.

For me the most interesting lecture of the week was a collaborative seminar on Tuesday evening given by staff members from multiple departments of the university, each looking at how the content of the novel applies to their own fields of research. For example; a lecturer in medicine explored the real life science that would have influenced Shelley in her time and spoke about how far the field of neurology is progressing. Others included lecturers in the social sciences and philosophy who examined the psychology of the character of Victor Frankenstein and what he strives for in the novel, as well as applying theories of the Philosophy of mind and modern science (Artificial Intelligence was again mentioned) to his creature.

All in all it was fascinating to hear  so many scholars outside of the department of English applying their fields to a work of literature, particularly one that has been the subject of academic study and an icon of popular culture for so long now. It reminded me that you can read a famous book and study it intensely for an exam but there is always more to be uncovered once it has been put back on the shelf. Given the fact that fiction and adaptation is currently my area of interest when it comes to choosing a potential research topic for my thesis, I may revisit The Modern Prometheus at some point in the future. Its alive and continues to inspire.