The Space Crone and Her Children: Queer Reproductions in Science Fiction

Catalog description

Rockets and Martian terraforming are frequent themes in the news. Less mentioned is human reproduction. Given humans must reproduce in space to actualize grand narratives of extraterrestrial exploration, this is a curious omission. Fortunately, science fiction does not neglect these matters. Sexuality, gender, and birth are of great interest to speculative writers; the future is an exciting place to live erotic lives. This is a course about possible genders, possible sexualities, possible ecologies. Reading queer feminist science fiction—e.g., Octavia Butler, Irene Clyde, Samuel Delany, N. K. Jemisin, Ursula Le Guin, Joanna Russ—we will consider how cycles of life might (already) be otherwise and interrogate current events re: reproductive and LGBTQIA+ rights, thinking both analytically and imaginatively. Participants will develop their own speculative prose.