Colonizing Space: Exploration, Extraction, and Inhabitation
RELI 317
Fall 2023 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
ENVS 317, SISP 327 |
Under its "Artemis Mission," NASA plans to put "the first woman and first person of color" on the Moon to build a permanent outpost. This lunar base will allow NASA to mine the Moon, extract precious metals from asteroids, and eventually colonize Mars--hopefully before China and Russia do the same. Thanks to recent legislation, NASA will rely throughout this mission on the rocket and extractive technologies of private corporations like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Moon Express, and Deep Space Industries, whose CEOs proclaim they are saving the human race by expanding it into space. It will also rely on the backing of the newly-created sixth branch of the U.S. military: the Space Force.
This course will track the ideological and colonial history of the Apollo era before approaching the scientific, corporate, and legislative landscape of "NewSpace." It will explore the mythological underpinnings, narrative imaginings, and theological justifications for the unfettered exploitation and inhabitation of the Earth and its cosmic neighbors. Finally, it will ask whether an ethically and ecologically sustainable space program is possible. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(RELI-MN)(RELI)(STS) |
Major Readings:
Marina Koren, "No One Should Colonize Space"Alexander VI, INTER CAETERA (1493)
Council of Castile, REQUERMIENTO (1510)
Sylvia Wynter, "The Pope Must Have Been Drunk¿"John F. Kennedy, "If the Soviets Control Space¿"Catherine Newell, "The Strange Case of Dr. Von Braun and Mr. Disney¿"Hannah Arendt, THE HUMAN CONDITION
Mircea Eliade, MYTH OF THE ETERNAL RETURN
Gerard O¿Neill, THE HIGH FRONTIER, letter
Franklin Foer, "Jeff Bezos¿ Master Plan"Robert Zubrin, "The Significance of the Martian Frontier"Elon Musk, "Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species"Lucianne Walkowicz, "Let¿s Not Use Mars as a Backup Planet"M. Jane Young, "Pity the Indians of Outer Space"Timiebi Aganaba, "The Future of Space"Raffi Khatchadourian, "The Elusive Peril of Space Junk"Bawaka Country, "Listening to Guwak, talking back to space colonization"Keolu Fox and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, "The Fight for Mauna Kea"Declaration of the Rights of the Moon
Ingrid LaFleur, "How to Think Like an Afrofuturist"Lou Cornum, "Space NDN"
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Examinations and Assignments:
Very active participation, weekly Moodle posts or ¿markups¿ of readings, midterm exam, group lesson, short final project |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fills the "Thematic" requirement for the Religion major |
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