by Csilla Budai

Although studying in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, I'm having trouble finding the best words to describe my acquaintance with the University Study Course: Monster's of the Sea. I took the course out of curiosity of the blending of science and literature, my love for literature, my interest in science, and in hope of finding the unknown.
Although I haven't made the discovery of a lifetime, and I haven't solved the mysteries of the deep seas, still it was an exciting and unforgettable experience. Not only did I dissect a creature for the first time in my life, but I also enjoyed it. After all it's not everyday you see a literature professor find dentures in a shark's stomach or an architect examine a shark embryo. This course wasn't only about Darwin meets Verne, but also about encountering two extremely different words and at the realizing how similar they are after all.
What motivates both scientists and writers is the desire to describe the unfamiliar, and to widen the understanding of our world…of humankind. They want to help us find the meaning of our life, where we come from and where are we going. These questions and searches for the unknown have been dominating our lives. As we have seen it through scenes from the movies Jaws, and Deep Blue See, even the entertainment world facilitates our fascination with the unknown.
Discussing the style of the great director Spielberg, and the techniques he used in Jaws to build fear and suspense about a 'monster' was also an exciting part of the course. Then we left Hollywood and looked at some amazing documentaries about whales, squids and scientific work in general.
Through the presentations on broad topics, the course provided us with wide range of issues, opinions, and evidences on such topics as mermaids, vampires, dinosaurs, giant squids, and diving. And discussions afterwards were driven by energetic scientific and not so scientific argumentations, observations, and viewpoints.
Monsters of the Sea gave me the opportunity to see the beauty even in the unknown, and it made me realize how little we know about life underwater… or even life in general. But most importantly, this course was not about memorizing literary terms, or scientific explanations. It was learning while having a great time.