ENGL4897: Science Fiction - Maymester (67045)

Lavender, Isiah

MTWRF 9:30 AM

Park Hall 144


Climate Fictions

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Humanity has polluted the oceans, altered the atmosphere, and caused both plant and animal species mass extinctions, among other impacts on the environment. Have we permanently altered/changed/damaged our planet? The term Anthropocene denotes our current geological era in which human activities have become a telling factor in global environmental change. Has the human epoch doomed us? When science fiction consequently goes green, it produces fascinating climate fictions or cli-fi. We will consider types of ecological degradation in this course as we explore the close relationship between science fiction, ecology, and environmentalism.

Texts:

Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

An assortment of shorter works as PDFs and a film or two