Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
The PAPERBACK of Humans: A Monstrous History from @[email protected], a history *through* monsters from antiquity to the present, is available to preorder! Here's a šŸ§µ of excerpts from the book. 1/ šŸ§ŖšŸ’™šŸ“š šŸ—ƒ #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH
Feb 5 at 11:49amWeb
Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
Here's an excerpt about a sixteenth-century family who, for observers in Renaissance Europe, blurred the categories of human an animal (in Shakespeare and Beyond, from the @[email protected]). 2/ www.folger.edu/blogs/shakes...

Humans and monsters | Folger S...
Humans and monsters | Folger Shakespeare Library

Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. Shakespeare belongs to you. His world is vast. Come explore. Join us online, on the road, or in Washington, DC.

Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
Current affairs: "Naming and classification are monster-making acts. A libraryā€™s worth of such acts sits in the foundations of the contemporary world, ready to be pulled out and used for thinking with at a momentā€™s notice." (in @[email protected]) 3/ bookanista.com/moving-on-fr...

Moving on from making monsters
Moving on from making monsters

Surekha Davies calls for an end to monstrifying narratives about minority populations, and an acceptance of our interdependence with each other and with nature.

Bookanista
Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
On technology: "The goal of comprehensive automation dismisses the uniqueness of each of us. It monstrifies us by making our essence something that is no longer seen as typical or even as normal. Suddenly, humans are framed as the problemā€”as redundant." (in @[email protected]) 4/

Weā€™re Already at Risk of Cedin...
Weā€™re Already at Risk of Ceding Our Humanity to AI

Machines Itā€™s 2019. Iā€™m in a bar in Providence, Rhode Island, chatting with graduate students and researchers with PhDs. One of them, who holds a PhD in Latin American literature, observed approvinā€¦

Literary Hub
Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
Interviewed by @[email protected] and excerpted in The Ink newsletter: "There are many non-violent forms of pitchforkery. ... And I guess I wouldn't mind seeing everyone demanding a monstertopia, embracing their inner Miss Piggy and fighting." 5/

Monsters are us
Monsters are us

An interview with historian Surekha Davies on how humanity makes monsters, and lays out the case for embracing your inner Muppet ā€” and an excerpt from her new book, Humans: A Monstrous History

The.Ink
Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
For another excerpt, sign up for my free newsletter, Notes from a Science Historian. You'll automatically receive an excerpt AND a subscriber only essay on the story behind my recent Smithsonian Magazine essay on a painting of hell with New World motifs. 6/ buttondown.com/surekhadavie...

Strange and Wondrous: Notes fr...
Strange and Wondrous: Notes from a Science Historian

Welcome to my newsletter! Iā€™m Dr Surekha Davies, historian of science and author of Humans: A Monstrous History (University of California Press, 2025) and the multi-award-winning Renaissance Ethnography and the Invention of the Human: New Worlds, Maps and Monsters (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Iā€™ve also published essays in Smithsonian Magazine, LA Times, the Times Literary Supplement, Science, Nature, Reactor Magazine, and elsewhere. This newsletter is about strange stories in history, culture, science, often about monsters or monster-making. It appears 2-3 times a month and includes updates about my new writing, podcast interviews, and speaking events. Sign up now for free! Youā€™ll automatically receive a subscriber-only essay, ā€œBehind the Smithsonian Magazine essayā€, about a piece I wrote for the magazine on a Renaissance painting of hell, and an excerpt from Humans: A Monstrous History. To learn more about me and to read some of my newspaper and magazine essays, please visit my website, www.surekhadavies.org.

Show threadDr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)Feb 5
HUMANS: A Monstrous History will be out in paperback from @[email protected] on March 17th! Already out: hardback, ebook, audiobook, and Chinese (traditional characters). Details below; please consider pre-ordering or asking your library to buy a copy! 7/7 www.surekhadavies.org/humans-a-mon...

Humans: A Monstrous History ā€” ...
Humans: A Monstrous History ā€” Surekha Davies

Surekha Davies