The Shape of Things to Come: Science Fiction at Georgia Tech

A Symposium hosted by the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Literature,Communication, and Culture

Thursday, November 17, 2011 

On Thursday, November 17, the School of Literature, Communication and Culture will host a day-long symposium spotlighting science fiction as a signature intersection of science, technology, and humanistic studies at Georgia Tech.

The symposium will feature a series of scholarly panels involving faculty members from various disciplines, showcasing their involvement in science fiction study across various media, as a cultural phenomenon, and as it relates to issues of scientific and technical development. The symposium will also feature a presentation on the Science Fiction Collection at Georgia Tech (recently cited by Science Fiction Studies as one of the twenty most important such collections in the world), a report on student activities in the Science Fiction Research Lab at Tech, and readings by award-winning and critically-acclaimed science fiction authors Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eugie Foster, J.M. McDermott and Chesya Burke.

All presentations will be in Skiles Room 02. The Georgia Tech and Atlanta communities are invited to attend.

Schedule

9:30 am-10:45 am:    Science Fiction and Society

Jackie Royster (IAC/LCC), Tom Morely (MATH), Aaron Santesso (LCC, moderator), Richard Barke (PubP), Christie Champlan Gurley (PubP)

10:45 am-11:00 am:   Coffee Break

11:00 am-12:00 pm:    Science Fiction Collection Presentation and Student Demos

Ryan Speer (LIB), Joshua Cuneo (LCC), Keith Johnson(LCC), Adam LeDoux (LCC), Paul Zaitsev (LCC), Lisa Yaszek (LCC, moderator)

12:00 pm-1:30 pm:   Catered Lunch with Author Reading and Book Signing

Kathy Goonan, This Shared Dream (LCC)

1:30 pm-2:45 pm:     Speculative Fiction in Literary and Cultural History

Peter Brecke (INTA), Carol Senf (LCC, moderator), Nihad Farooq (LCC), Narin Hassan (LCC)

2:45 pm-3:00 pm:     Coffee Break

3:00 pm- 4:15 pm:    Science Fiction Across Media

Michael Nitsche (LCC), Jay Telotte (LCC, moderator), Lisa Yaszek (LCC), Nettrice Gaskins (LCC), Hank Whitefield (LCC)

4:30 pm-6:00 pm:     Science Fiction in Atlanta: Author Reading and Book Signing

Kathy Goonan (LCC, moderator), J.M. McDermott, Eugie Foster, Chesya Burke 

All events will take place in 02 Skiles and are open to the public except the lunch which is limited to symposium participants and will take place in 343 Skiles.