October 17, 2006
The Grotesque
Before I left for
college, my sister gave me a small dragon figurine. She told me it was meant
ward off obstacles and provide me with inner strength to endure whatever life
throws my way. So far, it most definitely has provided me with the strength I
need to tackle each day, as "Whatever doesn't kill me will only make me
stronger." I have always connoted dragons with a sense of strength,
protection, and benevolence, unlike the European association of malevolence. In
many Eastern and Native American cultures, dragons hold major spiritual
significance and are revered as "representative of the primal forces of
wisdom...and longevity" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon).
Further, in medieval symbolism, dragons were symbolic of independence,
leadership, and strength. Thus, in the intellectual environment of a
university, dragons can be incredibly representative of the genii loci and also
the defenders of the querencia. Employing the Eastern
characterization of dragons, not only are they symbolically protecting the
campus from harm, but they also foster all of the ideals listed above, within
students. 
In understanding
the true meaning and purpose of a university,
I noted in my P1A paper that the most comprehensive definition of
education combines “an action upon our mental nature,
and the formation of a character”[1]
by focusing on “the greatest of all resources- the human intellect.”[2] If
a university is to cultivate both the student’s mind as well as their characters,
dragons serve as ideal reminders, or icons, of this monumental task. Delving
even further into symbolic dragon iconographic dragon 
symbolism,
“The Dragon embodies paradox…a symbol for the earth itself and the order and mystery of the combinations of her forces. In the dragon is the embodiment of the light and dark aspects of the crazy thing that is life. It slips through death as it sheds its skin and continues life without harm. In it lives the ‘duality of the contrary forces essential to cosmic stability’ (Theosophy, 1999). It personifies the duality of life found in the darkness and the light, the water and fire, the earth and the sky, the water and the earth, and life and death. The dragon is the symbol that represents conscious matter rising and from chaos” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon).
The purpose of this course is to
“know thy self” and understand “Who am I?” As icons originating before the time
of cavemen-when when dinosaurs roamed the earth- dragons are reminders of our
“fascination with the past,” (a primary purpose of many branches of education)
with our history and ancestors who provided us with these very connotations (Dougill, Bump 619). In Oxford College’s University Museum,
which John Ruskin conceived as “a Gothic Temple of Knowledge,” “rearing
dinosaurs” adorn the outside to “represent the physical cosmos in all its
respects” (Blackwood, Bump 669). If the fantastical idea of dragons is based on
dinosaurs, then UT’s décor of dragons is a direct link to
