COML074 - Science & Literature

This course will explore the emergence of modern science fiction as a genre and the ways it has reflected our evolving conceptions of ourselves and the universe. We will explore sci-fi as not only the future-mythos of a technological civilization, but as a space for cultural, social, and political critique of the modern age. We will discuss such characteristic themes as utopias, the exploration of space and time, biological engineering, robots, aliens, and other worlds, contextualized within the history of science and alongside themes like gender, race, and class. Authors include: H. G. Wells, Le Guin, Herbert, Clarke, Asimov, Okafor, Delany, Chiang, and others.