Imagining the Alien: Other Worlds, Climate Change, and the “Human”

Catalog description

“First contact” with alien creatures is an eternal science fiction theme, questioning what it means to be Human and the fears of the Other. Today, as climate change transforms the Earth’s landscape, the prospect of first contact with a mutated species, unforeseen natural disasters, and new societal structures feels imminent, ushering in new genres of climate science fiction and the Eco-Gothic. This course explores uncanny encounters with the otherworldly alien and the earthly apocalyptic environment as they invade our bodies, dissolving notions of boundaries, barriers, and divisions. As we read from classics of speculative fiction, such as War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells), to surreal climate fiction such as Annihilation (Jeff Vandermeer) and Dawn (Octavia Butler), we consider how our lived experiences are always in a “contact zone” between human bodies and more-than-human nature, always inseparable from the environment.