Colonizing Space: Exploration, Extraction, and Inhabitation
RELI 317
Fall 2020
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ENVS 317, SISP 327 |
On March 26, 2019, Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA, under the authority of the president, to ensure that the US be the first nation to return to the moon, and to do so "by any means necessary." In this shocking appropriation of Malcolm X's call to black liberation, Pence announced an uncompromising endeavor to secure American sovereignty in the face of the technological advancements of China, Israel, and India--not to mention the perennial aeronautic rival of Russia. Considering the persistent underfunding of scientific research in the US, fulfilling this presidential injunction will require NASA to cooperate with private corporations like lunar minder Moon Express and Planetary Resources, along with aspirational Mars-colonizers SpaceX and Blue Planet. This course will track the ideological and colonial history of the space race before coming to terms with the scientific, corporate, and legislative landscape that enables its contemporary expression. It will explore the mythological underpinnings, narrative imaginings, and theological justifications for unfettered exploration and inhabitation in order to interrogate the possibility of an ethically and ecologically sustainable space program. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(RELI-MN)(RELI)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Less than 50% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Arendt, Hannah, "THE CONQUEST OF SPACE AND THE STATURE OF MAN"
Bartels, Megan, "SHOULD WE COLONIZE SPACE?"
Von Braun, Werner, "CROSSING THE LAST FRONTIER"
Cosgrove, Dennis, "ONE-WORLD, WHOLE-EARTH, AND THE APOLLO SPACE PHOTOGRAPHS"
Eliade, Mircea, THE MYTH OF THE ETERNAL RETURN
Gómez-Barris, Macarena, THE EXTRACTIVE ZONE: SOCIAL ECOLOGIES AND DECOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES
Heidegger, Martin, "THE AGE OF THE WORLD PICTURE"
Kennedy, John F. Jr., "IF THE SOVIETS CONTROL SPACE, THEY CAN CONTROL EARTH"
Newell, Catherine Newell, "THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. VON BRAUN AND MR. DISNEY"
Nishimi, Leilani and Williams, Hester, RACIAL ECOLOGIES
Pompidou, Alain, "THE ETHICS OF SPACE POLICY"
Salazar, Joseph Anthony, "MULTICULTURAL SETTLER COLONIALISM AND INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE IN HAWAI'I"
Schwartz, James and Milligan,Tony, eds., THE ETHICS OF SPACE EXPLORATION
Walcowicz , Lucianne, "LET'S NOT USE MARS AS A BACK-UP PLANET"
Wynter, Sylvia, "BEYOND THE WORD OF MAN: GLISSANT AND THE NEW DISCOURSE OF THE ANTILLES"
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Examinations and Assignments:
weekly Moodle posts, 4 3-page papers, one annotated bibliography, and one final research presentation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fills the "Thematic" requirement for the Religion major |
| Instructor(s): Rubenstein,Mary-Jane Victoria Times: ..T.R.. 11:10AM-12:30PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: -4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 1 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 3 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 10 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 2 | 4th Ranked: 1 | Unranked: 5 |
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