Outer space and postcolonial theory/ Feminist accounts on technoscience and science fiction/ Afro-futurism/Modernist & Socialist Architecture in the Middle East and Africa and legacies of spacerace upon the spatial imagination of former European colonies/

Benedetta Cappa Marinetti does not simply write novels, she constructs them. Over the span of ten years, Benedetta pairs narrative first with images, then with performative elements, and lastly, with letters. She applies her abstract and conceptual style to observable and palpable works. In her first novel, Le forze umane (1926), Benedetta parallels handwritten words to hand- drawn images, or what she terms as “graphic syntheses.” From this autobiographical beginning, Benedetta immerses her audience into the timeline of her own life events. Surpassing a simple documentary or chronological account, Benedetta embeds her own states of mind in the narrative, a practice also explored by Futurist Giuseppe Steiner. In her next novel, Viaggio di Garar (1931), Benedetta continues to incorporate visuals into her narrative, however, not to convey states of mind, but to immerse the reader into another realm: the theater. Viaggio di Garar is a “cosmic novel for the theater,” allowing the work to be flexibly read as both a script and a novel. Her final novel, Astra e il sottomarino (1936) evokes an epistolary model, continuing her interest in the participatory elements of script and narrative. Benedetta’s much overlooked literary narrative includes a female perspective missing from many of her fellow Futurists’ novels.

This story-based journey is an eclectic discussion on marine plastic pollution. It responds to the Environmental Humanities by bringing material history, personal experiences as well as ecotheories and natural sciences together. The conversational style, like shifting tides, speaks to anyone who wishes to develop a broader understanding on plastic pollution and its ecological consequences. While much of the scientific data has been drawn from specialist journals such as Marine Pollution Bulletin and UN-Oceans, it is the mostly shared experiences on the World Ocean that inform this study such as dialogues and stories spoken by blue activists, general audiences, local groups, fishermen, researchers, students, scientists, surfers, sailors, divers, day-trippers, ferry crews, port authorities and marine protection societies. These voices speak from a position of ecocosmopolitanism on wide-ranging issues such as indifference, world-systems, modernity, ecological literatures, a common geostory, biosemiotics, the Anthropocene as well as Planetary Boundaries. By acknowledging that the World Ocean and its qualities have come to symbolise a fluid globalising world economy, alternative themes surface such as permeability, flows, agencies, loss, renewed sense of place, cross-species entanglements, peace and sustainability. The debates edge along fairly freely yet engage with three original ideas, namely: (1) plastic pollution may impact the climate more severely than the actual circulating concepts on climate change; (2) critical levels in the environment have been reached and this should, therefore, be part of a Planetary Boundary within "Novel entities" as it adversely affects the Earth’s systems; and (3) the question of language and how new education curricula centred around ecolinguistics and a shared geostory would better inform our environmental relations and altruistic natures. As presented here, plastic pollution is at its heart a debate involving a moral reassessment and appreciation of Planet Ocean, which constitutes our greatest personal gift - the "common heritage of humankind."

Rupert J. M. Medd, words and photographs, www.instagram.com/eyesotherwise
Hélène Guyot, illustrations, www.firstrainofsummer.com

In the last few years, Native filmmakers have begun drawing explicitly on the science fiction genre. Engaging recent short films depicting noncolonial encounters of the third kind and alternative utopian–dystopian futures, I argue that Native science fiction film provides a creative subversive mode of representation, uniquely positioning indigenous filmmakers to vividly reimagine a multiplicity of futures for their communities while critically addressing contemporary issues. Synthesizing scholarship in visual anthropology, afro and feminist futurism, and indigenous methodologies, I attempt to further develop an indigenous futurist analytical framework as part of a larger argument for increased anthropological engagement with Native futures.

The identity of Pakistanis is more endangered in post 9/11 situation than it was ever
before. Being Pakistani means to be part of a society divided into various groups at war
with one another on religious, sectarian and political issues. To have one unique
national identity is simply impossible in such a situation, when Pakistan is not only
engaged in war on terror but also herself a victim of terrorism. People loyal to different
groups mainly divided into liberals (educated, enlightened and progressive) and
fundamentalists (religious extremists, fanatics and ‘jihadis’) feel themselves
marginalized in their own society. They are looked as ‘others’ in their own homeland.
Their situation is comparable to that of the characters portrayed in the selected works of
Mohsin Hamid and Hanif Kureishi facing identity crisis in a diasporic environment.
Pakistani writers like African, Central and South American writers are responding back
to the old colonizers and today’s policy makers. 9/11 transformed the image of the
Muslim world into fundamentalists and terrorists forever. Another obsession with
Pakistani writers is the loss of values, religious and political exploitation of common
masses, suicide attacks, and sectarianism and the consequent evolution of an
individual’s perception of his identity in an alienated social framework.

The origins of science fiction are most often thought to trace to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, a story born from a night of spooky tale-telling by the fireside that explores scientific, moral, and ethical questions that were of great concern in the 19th century—and that continue to resonate today. And, although novels and short stories built the foundations of science fiction, film and television have emerged as equally powerful, experimental, and enjoyable ways to experience the genre. Even as far back as the silent era, films like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis have used science fiction to tell stories that explore many facets of human experience.

In Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy David Kyle Johnson of King’s College takes you on a 24-lecture exploration of the final frontiers of philosophy across several decades of science fiction in film and television. From big-budget blockbusters to television series featuring aliens in rubber masks, Professor Johnson finds food for philosophical thought in a wide range of stories. By looking at serious questions through astonishing tales and astounding technologies, you will see how science fiction allows us to consider immense, vital—and sometimes controversial—ideas with a rare combination of engagement and critical distance.

The Future Is Now

Science fiction is often concerned with the future, being used not only as a tool of prediction—humans are notoriously bad at accurately predicting the future—but also as one of extrapolation and interrogation. Rather than simply asking what the future will look like, the futuristic visions of sci-fi TV, like Star Trek, Firefly, and even the animated comedy Futurama, offer compelling statements about humanity’s hopes, dreams, and fears. We can, therefore, use fictionalized futures to better understand today’s world.

Setting a story in the future—or in an alternate reality, or on a faraway planet—also allows sci-fi creators to open up the realm of possibility beyond what our current world offers, while also looking at very real scientific possibilities. As you look at sci-fi films like Arrival and Interstellar, Professor Johnson highlights the kinds of issues worth considering if contact with extraterrestrial life or time travel became part of our real-life experience. And even if these experiences remain in the realm of fiction, considering them still provides insight into important philosophical questions. Indeed, throughout the lectures of Sci-Phi, you will ponder many questions that have concerned philosophers for centuries, including:

Do humans truly have free will?
Could machines one day be conscious? Or be sentient?
Could we actually be living in a simulated world?
How will humanity confront a future of diminished resources and advancing technology?
Are science and religion compatible?
When, if ever, is war justified?
How do we know what information to trust and what to dismiss?
Exploring Reality through Fiction

Staples of science fiction like time travel, alternate universes, and extraterrestrial life are endlessly fascinating ideas to explore. Yet, despite the insights they can give us, they may not seem very relevant to everyday life. Even our conception of reality—what is real and what isn’t—can have little bearing on the more mundane aspects of living from day to day. But science fiction, for all its futurism and outlandish flourishes, is not limited to these theoretical concepts; it is also a window into crucial discussions about the here and now, questions concerning ethics, power, religion, tolerance, social justice, politics, and the many practical dimensions of living in a world that is constantly changing and forever presenting humans with fresh new dilemmas to solve. And by removing us from reality, sci-fi can also remove our biases and make us see such issues anew.

Indeed, as Professor Johnson makes clear, stories of simulated worlds and artificial intelligence can seem far-fetched, but they actually offer valuable insights into social and ethical issues that may be more immediate and relevant than they first appear. By looking at them through fiction, we can take a step back and get a clearer picture of the larger implications. For instance, by looking at characters like Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation or the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, we are forced to wonder: If we create artificial intelligence that achieves true sentience, how will we treat these man-made beings? Will we repeat the sins of the past by enslaving them or will we embrace them as our equals? If we are ever able to re-create a convincing version of the world via computers, as films like The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor suggest, do the lives lived in those simulations mean less than those in the “real” world? The answers to these questions—and many others—speak volumes about human values and, given our ever-evolving technology, may require answers sooner rather than later.

You may be surprised to see how often a science fiction story can “trick” you into thinking about questions and concepts you may have never considered. Shows like The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror overtly present questions and issues for audiences to ponder. However, while other films and television shows may seem to focus more on the adventure and entertainment value of science fiction, they still often have deep philosophical dimensions. Consider the long-running British TV series Doctor Who. A beloved icon of science fiction, the show has always been framed as simply the exciting weekly adventures of a time-traveling alien; yet, throughout its decades on television, it has explored issues of autonomy, sentience, pacifism, colonialism, racism, grief, morality, and much more.

A Unique View of Philosophy

While each lecture of Sci-Phi focuses on a few key films or television episodes, you will also explore dozens of other movies and TV episodes along the way. Likewise, each philosophical concept you explore opens the door to further discovery. Throughout the lectures, you will be introduced to the ideas of great thinkers like Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Nietzsche, Sartre, Turing, Baudrillard, and many others; and through these ideas, you will better understand the different ways philosophy examines the big questions, from metaphysics and epistemology to existentialism and ethics.

Fans of the genre will find their experience of sci-fi stories enriched by layers of philosophical inquiry that reveal each story to be much more than just entertainment. Similarly, those who are looking for a thrilling and accessible introduction to philosophy will be equally rewarded by Professor Johnson’s breadth of knowledge, as well as his deep and abiding love for both science fiction storytelling and philosophical exploration. As you engage with philosophy by way of sci-fi stories for screens both large and small, it is important to keep in mind that Professor Johnson will not shy away from revealing key plot points in many of the stories he explores throughout the lectures; so, although it is not required, watching the films and TV episodes at the heart of each lecture is recommended. Presented as a one-on-one conversation and enlivened by fun visual references to many of the stories you will encounter, Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy is a philosophy course unlike any other.

Whether telling stories of far-flung futures or investigating the here and now, science fiction is an invaluable source of intellectual and imaginative exploration. From the genre-defining classics like Star Wars, Doctor Who, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Twilight Zone to a new wave of speculative tales like Transcendence, Snowpiercer, Westworld, and The Hunger Games, sci-fi stories offer a uniquely engaging and incisive way to ask serious questions about the world we live in, even when those stories are set in a galaxy far, far away. Philosophy is the search for truth. Sometimes that truth is best revealed through fiction.

Lecture 1 : Inception and The Interpreation of Art
Lecture 2 : The Matrix and the Value of Knowledge
Lecture 3 : The Matrix Sequels and Human Freewill
Lecture 4 : The Adjustment Bureau, the Force, and Fate
Lecture 5 : Contact: Science vs. Religion
Lecture 6 : Arrival: Aliens and Radical Translation
Lecture 7 : Interstellar: Is Time Travel Possible?
Lecture 8 : Futurama, Doctor Who and Temporal Paradoxes
Lecture 9 : Star Trek TNG and Alternate Worlds
Lecture 10 : Dark City, Dollhouse, and Personal Identity
Lecture 11 : Westworld and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Lecture 12 : Transcendence and the Dangers of AI
Lecture 13 : The Thirteenth Floor: Are We Simulated?
Lecture 14 : The Orville, Orwell, and the "Black Mirror"
Lecture 15 : Star Wars: Good vs. Evil
Lecture 16 : Firefly, Blake's 7 and Political Rebellion
Lecture 17 : Starship Troopers, The Doctor, and Just War
Lecture 18 : The Prime Directive and Postcolonialism
Lecture 19 : Capitalism in Metropolis, Elysium, and Panem
Lecture 20 : Snowpiercer and Climate Change
Lecture 21 : Soylent Green: Overpopulation and Euthanasia
Lecture 22 : Gattaca and the Ethics of Reproduction
Lecture 23 : The Handmaid’s Tale: Feminism and Religion
Lecture 24 : Kubrick's 2001 and Nietzsche’s Übermensch

This essay introduces the concept, the method, and the scope of astrocriticism, a version of critical theory aimed at thinking the impacts of the growth of the new space economy. It introduces a new approach to thinking about history and space rooted in astrographic as opposed to geographic orientation, and shows ways in which the analytic approaches to the philosophy of information can be combined with continental approaches to thinking about hermeneutics within the context of an engaged critical praxis. The text also suggests how astrocriticism can be of use to scholars from a variety of disciplines and historical periods, likewise pointing out how one might situate astrocriticism with respect to existing critical theory options.

As the planet's largest ecosystem, oceans stabilise climate, produce oxygen, store CO 2 and host unfathomable biodiversity at a deep timescale. In recent decades, scientific assessments have indicated that the oceans are seriously degraded to the detriment of most near-future societies. Human-induced impacts range from climate change, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, eutrophication and marine pollution to local degradation of marine and coastal environments. Such environmental violence takes form of both 'spectacular' events, like oil spills and 'slow violence', occurring gradually and out of sight. The purpose of this paper is to show four cases of coastal and marine forms of slow violence and to provide counter-accounts of how to reinvent our consumer imaginary at such locations, as well as to develop what is here referred to as 'low-trophic theory,' a situated ethical stance that attends to entanglements of consumption, food, violence, environmental adaptability and more-than-human care from the co-existential perspective of multispecies ethics. We combine field-philosophical case studies with insights from marine science, environmental art and cultural practices in the Baltic and North Sea region and feminist posthumanities. The paper shows that the oceanic imaginary is not a unified place, but rather, a set of forces, which requires renewed ethical approaches, conceptual inventiveness and practical creativity. Based on the case studies and examples presented, the authors conclude that the consideration of more-than-human ethical perspectives, provided by environmental arts and humanities is crucial for both research on nature and space, and for the flourishing of local multispecies communities. This paper thus inaugurates thinking and practice along the proposed here ethical stance of low-trophic theory, developed it along the methodological lines of feminist environmental posthumanities.

Given the centrality of utopia to the African literary and postcolonial imaginary, science fiction by African writers offers a unique opportunity to explore and critique the sociopolitical salience of imagined African futures. Through a close reading of three short stories in the Afro SF: Science Fiction by African Writers Vol I (2012) anthology, I illustrate how generic science fiction utopias prove to be much too sterile when applied to an African context and thus do not amount to a viable and sustainable future. Making use of tropes of contagion, there is a clear desire to demonstrate that the human impulse is, in many ways, contrary to the objectives of neat utopias and these stories subsequently seek to 'contaminate' the notion of utopia itself. Overall, I suggest that this is indicative of a shifting postcolonial landscape that needs to more carefully weigh the price of its utopias. Pretoria. She is currently writing a monograph entitled A Country Out of Time: an examination of nostalgia and nationalism in contemporary South African Fiction and launching a research project on Science Fiction in Africa.

The debate on herd immunity has strongly marked the political and scientific management of Sars-Cov2, as has been widely reported in the media. The language of immunity between gambling and speculation for a time, was tempered by oracles, when Imperial College models predicted the disaster in Britain. However, the wager on natural herd immunity did not disappear from scientific and political discourse. It was in a way the starting point of what is at stake today in the quest for a vaccine, as well as in the counter current of anti-quests and what it brings into play in terms of narratives in the global North and South. The quest for herd immunity through non-confinement was widely advocated at the beginning of March, as a viable preventive strategy that could curb the predicted fallout of the virus. Boris Johnson in the UK and Donald Trump in the US largely relied on rapid spreading throughout working class people to pacify the virus. On the 4 th October, the Great Barrington Declaration translated into 43 languages and signed by researchers from Stanford, Oxford and Harvard Universities argued in favour of slackening the restrictions in order to expose people to the virus in the attempt to build up immunity and ultimately save jobs and the American economy. In Senegal, a report entitled « The Senegalese Miracle of Magal », signed by a parasitologist and clinician from the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), stated that the religious pilgrimage to Mourides 1 of Touba did not cause any extra cases of Covid-19. On the contrary, there was a decline in Sars-Cov in Senegal, which could be attributed to herd immunity among other factors. This is what the political scientist Ariel Colonomos described as the "strategy of states that pay with lives as opposed to states that pay for lives". The argument for natural immunity existed before the birth of bacteriology at the beginning of the 18th century 2 , its revival today puzzled and even shocked epidemiologists who do not wish to think about immunology outside of its medicalisation. Various percentages have been circulated concerning the required infection rate to achieve herd immunity, in particular by those who have taken risky gambles, like in Sweden, to not confine its population. Herd immunity, whether natural and/or vaccinated, is a metaphor for governance, the most familiar demonstration today being the one being played out by the

Social accounts are a powerful tool in influencing the behavior of organizational members during major change. Examination of their effectiveness has largely focused on the design of accounts to influence behavioral and affective responses. However, when used in real life practice, more individualized, interpretive and agentic responses to social accounts are found to influence effectiveness. Using an example of large-scale organizational change, moving from one hospital facility to another, we explore the dynamic and contextual interpretation of social accounts over time. Our findings expand social account theory by examining how potentially successful change communications are derailed by the relevance of the account in relation to an individual’s past, by the individuals’ ability to express agency and by temporality; how over time, lived experience can alter the perceived truthfulness of an account and alter its potency.

This article examines the reinvigoration of outer space imaginaries in the era of global environmental change, and the impacts of these imaginaries on Earth. Privatized space research mobilizes fears of ecological, political, or economic catastrophe to garner support for new utopian futures, or the search for Earth 2.0. These imaginaries reflect dominant global discourses about environmental and social issues, and enable the flow of earthly resources toward an extraterrestrial frontier. In contrast, eco-centric visions emerging from Gaia theory or feminist science fiction project post-earthly life in terms that are ecological, engaged in multispecies relations and ethics, and anticapitalist. In these imaginaries, rather than centering humans as would-be destroyers or saviors of Earth, our species becomes merely instrumental in launching life—a multispecies process—off the planet, a new development in deep evolutionary time. This article traces these two imaginaries and how they are reshaping material and political earthly life.

Colloque international "Femmes engagées au cœur de l'action. Espace Euro-méditerranée. Mise en récit(s), mise en image(s)", Université de Lorraine, 5 avril 2019

Depuis le début du XXIe siècle, une esthétique futuriste arabe est apparue dans certaines productions artistiques. Ces visions du futur se rejoignent pour former un discours critique à l’égard d’une réalité déconcertante au sein de l’espace géo-culturel arabe. À l’aune de ces différentes représentations, une forte production est l’œuvre d’artistes femmes qui mettent, ou se mettent en avant, afin d’imaginer d’autres mondes. Dans plusieurs œuvres de Larissa Sansour par exemple, se déploie une esthétique populaire de l’Occident, qu’elle adapte en faveur du contexte palestinien, où des super-héroïnes et des aventurières intrépides sont mises en scène. Moufida Fehila revêt le costume de Super-Tunisian à l’occasion de performances dans la sphère publique, quatre mois après la chute de Ben Ali et le début des contestations populaires générées par le « Printemps arabe », pour décider de l’avenir politique tunisien. Depuis le début de sa carrière, les créations de Sophia al-Maria n’ont eu de cesse de faire évoluer les femmes au sein d’univers dystopiques, non seulement pour évoquer leur condition dans les États arabes du golfe Persique mais également pour pointer du doigt les effets qu’ont eu les régimes autoritaires sur les sociétés.
Durant cette présentation, nous analyserons leurs discours futuristes, que ce soit par le biais de l’anticipation, la spéculation, ou lors de l’utilisation d’un champ iconographique futuriste. Nous nous intéresserons à la manière dont ces « futurismes arabes » ne cherchent plus à montrer les pays de l’aire arabe tels qu’ils sont, mais à formuler des propositions de ce qu’ils pourraient devenir, pour le meilleur comme pour le pire.
Si Larissa Sansour, Moufida Fedhila et Sophia al-Maria sont originaires de pays très différents, les thèmes futuristes qu’elles abordent permettent de dépasser l’apanage du géopolitique, de l’étude des conflits et des sociétés contemporaines afin de formuler une analyse critique synchronique. Ainsi, en bouleversant les considérations qui ont pu être émises sur le « monde arabe », le réalisme spéculatif de leurs productions artistiques réintroduit la voix des populations concernées tout en donnant une analyse lucide de la situation de la région.

Past patterns of exploration, colonization and exploitation on Earth continue to provide the predominant paradigms that guide many space programs. Any project of crewed space exploration, especially of the magnitude envisioned by the 100-Year Starship Study, must guard against the hubris that may emerge among planners, crew, and others associated with the project, including industries and bureaucracies that will emerge from the effort. Maintaining a non-exploitative approach may be difficult in consideration of the century of preparatory research and development and the likely mulitgenerational nature of the voyage itself.  Starting now with mission dreamers and planners, the purpose of the voyage must be cast as one of respectful learning and humble discovery, not of conquest (either actual or metaphorical) or other inappropriate models, including military. At a minimum, the Study must actively build non-violence into the voyaging culture it is beginning to create today. References to exploitive colonization, conquest, destiny and other terms from especially American frontier mythology, while tempting in their propagandizing power, should be avoided as they limit creative thinking about alternative possible futures.  Future voyagers must strive to adapt to new environments wherever possible and be assimilated by new worlds both biologically and behaviorally rather than to rely on attempts to recreate the Earth they have left.  Adaptation should be strongly considered over terraforming.  This paper provides an overview of previous work linking the language of colonization to space programs and challenges the extension of the myth of the American frontier to the Starship Study.  It argues that such metaphors would be counter-productive
at best and have the potential to doom long-term success and survival by planting seeds of social decay and self-destruction. Cautions and recommendations are suggested.