Profs and Pints - Philadelphia

Profs and Pints Philadelphia presents: “An Evening with Japan’s Monsters,” a look at the history and evolution of strange creatures from the Land of the Rising Sun, with Frank L. Chance, scholar of East Asian Art, adjunct associate professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for East Asian Studies, and teacher of a course titled “Monsters of Japan.”

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profs-and-pints-black-squirrel/philadelphia-japan-monsters .]

Japan has a long, rich history of stories about strange creatures, ranging from giant beasts to tiny beings that can be collected and kept as pets.

Gain a rich understanding of the cultural origins of monsters such as Godzilla and the Pokémon with Frank Chance, a scholar who has devoted his life to studying and teaching others about the cultures of Japan, China, and Korea.

In a talk ranging from legends that date back nearly 2,000 years to today’s television shows, movies, and video games, Dr. Chance will explore the stories and meanings of various monsters that arose in Japan.

You’ll learn how the ancient legends of such giants as the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi contained hidden political messages, and how medieval Japan’s ghosts and demons were intended to scare believers into good Buddhist behavior. We’ll chart the proliferation in early modern times of stories of strange creatures such as humorous yōkai meant to entertain more than frighten.

Leaping ahead to the second half of the twentieth century, we’ll spend time with film giants such as Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan and gain an understanding of how they, too, reverberated with political overtones. You’ll learn how the master of Japanese Animation, Miyazaki Hayao, deployed monstrous creatures to convey truths about the environment and its degradation.

From our current century we’ll explore the phenomenon of Pokémon—collectible monsters that can be bought at toy shops and acquired through video games—and we’ll look at how they come with both complex narratives and hidden lessons about commerce and capitalism. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Guests are welcome to arrive any time after 5:30. Talk starts at 6:30.)

Image: A print of an Umibōzu, or monstrous sea spirt, from about 1700 (Brigham Young University / Wikimedia)

Profs and Pints Philadelphia presents: “A Guide to Witches,” on the figure of the witch in history, legend, folklore, and fairy tales, with Linda Lee, lecturer in folklore and literature at the University of Pennsylvania.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profs-and-pints-black-squirrel/philadelphia-witches .]

Get ready for something spellbinding: A look at various depictions of witches as reflections of ideas about female sexuality, independence, agency, and power.

Offering up this pre-Halloween treat will be folklorist Linda Lee, who earned rave reviews in giving this talk at the Black Squirrel Club a year ago and has captivated audiences at this Fishtown venue with her past discussions of dark Christmas folklore and the goddess Persephone.

We’ll start with an introduction to witches from European folklore, fairy tales, and legends. You’ll learn how they’re generally portrayed as powerful, solitary, and defiant figures who can be either helpful or harmful. They may appear as mothers, helpers who aid heroes on quests, or monsters to be vanquished. They can represent a threat to the community by snatching children or by pilfering cows’ milk.

Individual witches who will be conjured up include the child-eating witch from Grimms’ “Hansel and Gretel” and Baba Yaga, the ambiguous witch of Slavic folklore who lives in a hut on chicken legs and flies around inside a giant mortar while clutching a big pestle. Lee contrasts such fictional depictions with the ideas about witches and witchcraft espoused by Christian demonological thought.

You’ll learn how witches are described by early modern sources like Malleus Maleficarum, the 15th-century treatise on witchcraft which also served as a witch hunters’ manual. Such texts presented witches as entirely malevolent figures who gain magical powers through a pact with the Devil (usually signed with menstrual blood). They depicted witches as using a special ointment that empowers them to fly to a Witches’ Sabbath to dance and perform demonic rituals.

You’ll see how such ideas were visually reinforced through engravings, woodcuts, and drawings, by artists like Albrecht Dürer, that depicted naked women riding broomsticks and dancing with devils.

You’ll come away with a better understanding of why witches are among the most versatile, notorious, and enduring figures from fairy tales and legends and remain an iconic part of contemporary Halloween traditions. Feel free to dress witchy if you wish. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 3:30 pm. Talk starts at 4:30. )

Image: From “Preparation for the Witches' Sabbath,” by 17th Century Flemish artist David Teniers the Younger.