Utopian Dreaming: History, Science Fiction, and Isla Vista

Catalog description

Examines the utopian dream through history, literature, philosophy, and public memory. Starting with a historical and philosophical background of the concepts, the course will then turn to focus more narrowly on our own planned community of Isla Vista. Students will engage with public history and memory to trace the ideals and the reality of our surrounding community. Finally, in the last part of the survey, students will look at the future, focusing first on fictional accounts of utopia and dystopias, before writing their own speculative fiction as a final project.