SPECULATIVE FICTION AND CULTURES OF SCIENCE MINOR

Subject abbreviation: SFCS College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Committee in Charge Sherryl Vint (Media and Cultural Studies; English) Dana Simmons (History) Tamara Ho (Gender and Sexuality Studies) Nalo Hopkinson (Creative Writing) Eric Schwitzgebel (Phiilosophy)

Supporting Faculty Derek Burrill (Media and Cultural Studies) Andre Carrington (English) John Jennings (Media and Cultural Studies) Gloria Kim (Media and Cultural Studies) Stuart Krieger (Theatre, Film and Digital Production) Tim Labor (Media and Cultural Studies) Juliette Levy (History) Juliet McMullin (Anthropology) Yolanda Moses (Anthropology) Lisa Raphals, (Comparative Literature) Judith Rodenbeck (Media and Cultural Studies) Richard Rodriguez (Media and Cultural Studies) Robin Russin (Theatre, Film and Digital Production) Chikako Takeshita (Gender and Sexuality Studies) James Tobias (English) Susan Zieger (English)

The minor in Speculative Fiction and Cultures of Science explores intersections among specu- lative fiction, science and technology studies (STS), and traditions of speculative thought. We study the pervasive role of speculative discourses in public culture, investigating the complex and reciprocal exchanges among futuristic discourses, research agendas, public policy decisions, media texts, and daily life in technologically saturated societies. Using the combined perspectives of cultural studies and STS helps students develop critical literacy about their media-dominated landscape through which to understand its discourses of science and the future. Bringing speculative fictions and STS into dialogue, our scholars focus on understanding technological change in specific contexts by analyzing the texts and practices that have responded to, critiqued, and build upon the ways science shapes our cultural, ma- terial, and economic milieu. Speculative thinking and speculative fictions are central to many of the most compelling contemporary research concerns, such as the Anthropocene, climate change, genetic engineering, and discourses of the posthuman. We examine the histories and cultures of science, technology, and medicine to understand the role culture plays in the produc- tion of science and the reciprocal way changes in science and technology shape culture. Our program uniquely emphasizes the role of popular culture and the genres of speculative fiction, in particular, for serving as an imaginative testing ground for technological innovation, articulating hopes and anxieties regarding technological change, and mediating public understandings of science and its applications.

• 1. Requirements (24 units)

• a) Four (4) units from SFCS 001 or from the

approved substitutes ENGL 146(E-Z)/ MCS 146(E-Z) or ENGL 179C or ANTH 162.

• b) Sixteen (16) additional units, selected

from the following groups. Students must take at least four (4) units from two of the three groups.

GROUP ONE: Fine Arts; selected from CRWT 162; CRWT 172; MCS 146; MCS 133; MCS 151G; MCS 153 (E-Z); MCS 170; TFDP 166C.

GROUP TWO: Humanities; selected from CPLT 118; CPAC 132; ENGL 179A; ENGL 179B; ENGL 179C; ENGL 179D; ENGL 179T; JPN 184; HIST 105; HIST 107; HISA 147; MCS 147; MCS 149; MCS 157; MCS 158; MCS 166; PHIL 137; PHIL 167.

GROUP THREE: Social Sciences; select- ed from ANTH 143; ANTH 162; GSST 106; GSST 161; GSST 185; GSST 187; GSST 189.

• c) Four (4) units from SFCS 193 (senior

seminar) or CPLT 193 or ENGL 189 or MCS 193 or PHIL 193

All students must take the introductory course (SFCS 001) and the senior seminar or approved equivalents listed above. There is no required order in which elective courses must be taken but credit in SFCS 001 is required for entry into SFCS 193.

See Minors under the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences in the Colleges and Programs section of this catalog for information on minors.