WGSS 66.31 Black Speculative Worlds

This course will explore futuristic speculative worlds as they are imagined by major Black women writers in the field of science fiction and fantasy, specifically focusing on works by Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, and N.K. Jemisin. We will explore utopias/dystopias and post-apocalyptic alien worlds in order to interrogate the ways in which they reflect and comment on our own human condition. Understanding each literary text as a thought experiment in its own right, we will unpack various themes associated with the reconfiguring of the constructs of race, class, gender and sexuality as well as Black women’s reproductive rights and politics. We will closely analyze alien invasion contagion narratives that comment on the histories of slavery, settler colonialism, and imperialism, and that speak to the operations of white supremacy. Lastly, we will examine how a revisionist mode of writing functions as an essential part of Black feminist speculative thought.

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies