ENGL 221

Fall 2021 Part of Term 1

Part of Term 1
Aug 23-Dec 8

Speculative Futures

SHOW FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Credit: 3 hours.

Introduces majors and non-majors to several important conversations arising from the expansive genre of speculative fiction. In this course students will explore some of the most profound, disturbing, and downright bizarre imaginings of the future that human beings have generated. Climate change, ageing, fascist regimes, reproductive rights, technological failures, scientific advancements, and apocalypse are just a few of the possible topics for this class. Course materials will be drawn from literary works, contemporary and historical scientific developments, and cultural theory to explore how and why speculative futures are linked to specific cultural contexts, technologies, and social schemes.

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ENGL 221 class schedule data for fall 2021
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	71514	Lecture-Discussion	C	10:00AM -10:50AM	MWF	Lincoln Hall	Oh, R	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/23/21-12/08/21 Credit: 3 hours Section Info: ENGL 221 Speculative Futures - What kinds of worlds do we envision when we write about the future? What endures, changes, or is lost? What do speculative depictions tell us about our hopes, desires, and fears for the future? Conversely, how do visions of the future help us better understand the present and the past? Who gets to write or imagine the future? Whose futures are left out? We will focus these questions through speculative texts about environmental crisis and climate change. Most texts will be obviously SF, though some will toe the line with realism. By examining both far and near futures we will explore the possibilities and perils of the climate future, interrogate present and historical environmental problems, and finally imagine new worlds, communities, and behaviors to ask “what if?” as we enter an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable environmental era. We will spend most of our time with films and novels though we may also read visual art and short stories. Authors may include Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy, N. K. Jemisin, Paolo Bacigalupi, Barbara Kingsolver, Megan Hunter, and Octavia Butler. Films may include The Day After Tomorrow, Mad Max: Fury Road, Pumzi, and Watermark.