English 378 - Another World:Writing Utopias

How and why do narrative artists envision whole new worlds? What is the role of fantasy in social change? In this course we will investigate contemporary utopian fictions and their historical antecedents as models for our own utopian writing. We will encounter novels and films from various lineages, including Afrofuturist, anarchist, critical utopian, ecotopian, and feminist. Authors we may read include Sir Thomas More, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delany, Ernest Callenbach, Octavia E. Butler, Walidah Imarisha, Roxane Gay, Ta Neheisi Coates, and Margaret Kiljoy. Interdisciplinary research and collaboration will make up a substantial portion of the work of the course.

Prereq: 8 credits in creative writing.