STS 2131

Science Fiction

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

Science fiction, as Fredric Jameson put it, is "the only kind of literature that can reach back and colonize reality." Today more than ever, when science and technology have penetrated everyday life in ways that would have seemed impossible only a few decades ago, it has become apparent that science fiction is not merely a literary genre but a whole way of being, thinking, and acting in the modern world. The course explores classic and contemporary science fiction from Frankenstein to The Hunger Games alongside a rich array of fiction, films, and new media from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Our discussions will position these works vis-à-vis seminal thinkers, ranging from Plato to Descartes and Donna Haraway to Paul Crutzen, who ask the same questions as science fiction does about ourselves, our world, and our future.

When Offered Fall, summer.

Breadth Requirement (GB)
Distribution Category (CA-AS)

Comments A University Course.

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