Course Category: Existential Cartoon Horror

This course will think philosophy, social theory, and contemporary culture through the show Rick and Morty. Not only will we think seriously about the philosophical-existential questions the show plays with, including its fun references to popular culture, we will also think seriously about the form of Rick and Morty. Thus, in addition to studying contemporary social theory (In the Dust of this Planet), and philosophy from figures like Nietzsche, Baudrillard, Deleuze, and others, we will also think seriously about the form of cartoons, networked media, and video games. Students will be introduced to concepts like simulacra/simulation, the hyper-real, the post-cinematic, etc. In addition to select episodes of Rick and Morty, we will analyze an episode of Star Trek (“Mirror, Mirror”), study David Cronenberg’s The Fly, and other works of visual expression. The course will begin with 8-bit Philosophy’s “The Philosophy of Rick and Morty.”