Black Speculative Fictions and the Anthropocene
CHUM 302
Fall 2018
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 312, E&ES 125, FGSS 301 |
| Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory |
| Course Cluster: Queer Studies |
The genre of black speculative fiction--in the form of literature, art, music, and theory--provides a generative framework through which to (re)think understandings of race, gender, sexuality, class, the body, disability, citizenship, and the human. Often couched as taking place in the "future," black speculative fictions also engage the past and critique the present. This makes the genre a critical resource for addressing the Anthropocene. The term "Anthropocene" first emerged from the discipline of geology in 2000. Scientists proposed that Earth had entered a new epoch (following the Holocene) in which "humans" had become geological forces, impacting the planet itself. However, the term Anthropocene raises numerous questions. What does it mean to think about the human at the level of a "species"? What constitutes evidence of the Anthropocene and when did it begin? Who is responsible for the Anthropocene's attendant catastrophes, which include earthquakes, altered ocean waters, and massive storms? Does the Anthropocene overemphasize the human and thus downplay other interspecies and human-nonhuman, animate-inanimate relations? Or does it demand a (potentially fruitful) reconceptualization of the human? Further, how does artificial intelligence complicate definitions of the human and, by extension, of the Anthropocene? Centering the work of black speculative thinkers and placing it in conversation with scientific studies ranging from marine biology and geology to cybernetics, this course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the Anthropocene that endeavors to (re)conceptualize the human, ecological relations, and Earth itself. Texts engaged will include: novels, art, music, theory, and scientific studies. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Select primary sources, including artists and musicians:
Octavia Butler, DAWN
N. K. Jemisin, THE FIFTH SEASON
Samuel Delany, STARS IN MY POCKET LIKE GRAINS OF SAND
Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, and Halley Wegryn Gross, WESTWORLD
Sun Ra, SPACE IS THE PLACE
Bina48
Wangechi Mutu
Ellen Gallagher
Janelle Monae
Grace Jones
Drexciya
Select secondary sources:
Joni Adamson et al., eds., KEYWORDS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Alexander Weheliye, HABEAS VISCUS: RACIALIZING ASSEMBLAGES, BIOPOLITICS, AND BLACK FEMINIST THEORIES OF THE HUMAN
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, M ARCHIVE: AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD
Anna Tsing et al., eds., ARTS OF LIVING ON A DAMAGED PLANET
Articles on black feminist theory, queer of color critique, geology, marine biology, Afrofuturism, the Anthropocene
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Examinations and Assignments:
Contribution of discussion questions based on assigned texts; two short reading response papers; one group presentation; submission of abstract and bibliography in preparation for final research paper or speculative fiction project; final research paper or speculative fiction project accompanied by an artist¿s statement that explains its connection to specific texts and themes from the seminar.
Consistent attendance and participation are required. |
| Instructor(s): Vermeulen,Heather Times: ....R.. 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: CFH106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 7 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 8 | JR non-major: 7 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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