Speculative Fiction in Historical Perspective, Wed. Nov. 8 6:00-7:15 pm

Please join us on November 8th, 2023 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. for an in-person event at Larson Kelly Auditorium in Driscoll Hall. This is a collaboration between the Lepage Center, the English Department, and Global Interdisciplinary Studies to consider what speculative fiction can tell us about real world history.

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, post-apocalyptic fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, alternate history, weird fiction, climate fiction, all their overlap and subgenres come out of a milieu of real world experiences for their authors, shaped by the structures within which they live their lives. From gothic horror to Afrofuturism, writers and artists have responded to the real world by creating fictional ones that speak to the conditions of society, different understandings of what has come before, and conceiving what might come next. From Mary Shelley to Ursula K. Le Guin to N.K. Jemisin; from Jules Verne to Samuel R. Delany to Kim Stanley Robinson; all these writers, their peers, critics, and more have been living and working through history. When we look at their work, what does it say to us?

This event will be moderated by Dr. Maghan Keita, Professor of History and Global Interdisciplinary Studies and Founding Director of Global Interdisciplinary Studies and Africana Studies at VIllanova. Our panel will be comprised of Dr. Heather Hicks, Professor and Chair of English at Villanova and an expert on Post-apocalyptic fiction and Gender in Post-Modern fiction; Dr. Travis Foster, Associate Professor of English and Academic Director of Gender and Women's Studies at Villanova who expertise includes Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Genre; and Dr. Patricia Lott, Assistant Professor of American Studies, African American and Africana Studies, and English at Ursinus University, whose expertise includes Afrofuturism, Emancipation, Public Collective Memory, and more.

This event is free and open to the public.