Re-imagining Science Fiction: Race, Gender, and Sexuality

Course Code: ENGL 2100

Academic Year: 2024-2025

Artists from the Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities use the genre of science fiction to address the issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, environmental justice, and social disenfranchisement. In addition to addressing the present day, these artists use science fiction to suggest more just and equitable configurations of society and modes of existence beyond traditional binaries of sex, gender, and humanness. Through a mix of close readings, in-class discussions, and assignments, students in this course examine how authors use the genre of science fiction to project future possibilities of life in literature, television, movies, comics, music, art, and/or fashion. Topics covered in the course beyond the main themes may include the environment, economics, artificial intelligence, citizenship, borders, utopias and/or technology.