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Profs and Pints DC presents: “Werewolves Among Us,” a look at lycanthropy and other psychological conditions that make people think they can transform into animals, with Brian A. Sharpless, licensed clinical psychologist, visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, and editor of Unusual and Rare Psychological Disorders.
Tales of werewolves are a Hollywood staple, and depictions of human-to-animal transformations are older than recorded history. Few people are aware, however, of the real-life conditions which leave people believing that they can change into animals. Moreover, sufferers of the condition broadly known as clinical zoanthropy aren’t limited to becoming wolves. They can believe they take so many other forms that even were-gerbils have been known to be on the loose out there.
Join Brian Sharpless, an expert on unusual psychological conditions and a favorite of Profs and Pints audiences, for a discussion of were-beasts past and present.
He’ll start by discussing beliefs in werewolves and other were-creatures over time and throughout different parts of the world. He’ll review what we know about werewolf trials and how the accused were treated by authorities, focusing on infamous cannibalistic killers believed to be “werewolves.” Among them is the mysterious Gilles Garnier, whose home was recently discovered by French archaeologists and visited by Professor Sharpless and a colleague.
Dr. Sharpless will then review what we know about the strange condition of clinical zoanthropy. He’ll describe what causes it, how common it is, how it is assessed, and how it can be treated effectively. He’ll discuss how this condition differs from film portrayals of werewolves in Twilight, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London, as well as the menagerie of animal forms people have been known to believe they can take.
He’ll wrap up the talk with a discussion of fun tips from actual European culture about how to become a werewolf, rid yourself of a werewolf that is troubling you, or help a loved one recover from unwanted werewolfery. You’ll learn what Hollywood films get wrong in adapting the old folklore for the big screen, and how a silver bullet won’t do you much good unless you can pawn the metal for something truly useful.
It’s a talk that will leave your tail wagging. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, or $13 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)
Image: From a 1512 Lucas Cranach the Elder woodcut print of a werewolf attack. (Herzogliches Museum in Gotha, Germany / Wikimedia Commons)
