Topic: Gender, Science Fiction, and Fan Communities

Catalog description

This course explores the connections between science fiction, gender, race, sexuality, and feminisms. We will examine these connections not only as they are represented in science fiction stories, TV shows, and films, but also as they are embodied in the fan communities that have developed alongside science fiction, as it grew as a genre. Both science fiction entertainments and science fiction fan communities existed and developed inside broader national cultures, and they participated in and were influenced by political, technological, and social change. This course will explore how this fictional genre and fan community changed over the last century. In particular, we will examine how second wave feminism and other social justice movements after 1970 were reflected in the work of feminist science fiction authors and fans, and how the development of the Internet after 1990 transformed both the genre and the fan communities that surround science fiction entertainments. Our exploration of the genre and community will include science fiction written by BIPOC authors, and the experience of fans of color within science fiction fandom.