Life on Mars: Speculative Science, Imagery, and Imagination of the Red Planet

Catalog description

This course is an examination - both playful and rigorous - of the imagery and imagination that surrounds Mars. The course will introduce the scientific data, science fiction, and speculative science of colonization possibilities of the Red Planet. We will consider Martian geology and how it compares to the Earth, particularly in the relationship between active volcanism and the presence of water. The question of life and civilization on Mars holds a central place in science fiction of diverse media across cultures. Those imaginings have shaped our own explorations of the planet, and how we think about our presence there, as filtered through the human experience of colonization of our own globe. To engage these issues through hands-on experimentation, students will engage in semester-long group projects to better understand closed ecosystems and what colonization of Mars would actually entail. Per the subtitle of a book we will draw upon, A City on Mars (2023), 'Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?'