Introduction to Latinx Speculative Fiction as a Framework to Decolonize the Past, Present and Future

Instructor: Alicia Diaz
CRN: 13655
Instructional Method: SYNCHRONOUS 
Meeting Days/Times: Thursdays 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Instructional Tools: Zoom and Canvas 
Note: Limited to 15 students; instructor permission required. Email Alicia Diaz. 

Alicia Diaz introduces her fall 2020 course.

Course Description:
"So Say We All"
Commander William Adama
"Battlestar Galactica" (Originally broadcast 2003-2009)
Portrayed by Edward James Olmos

Why in a time of such environmental, technological, political and social upheaval (or some may say chaos) are science, speculative and/or futuristic fictions relevant? Latinx speculative fictions challenge prevailing notions of . . . "agency, gender, and ethnicity, uses of violence and technology, and even the meaning of survival and triumph, while extending more nuanced concepts of tradition, community, scientific exploration, environmental and social consciousness, power, and responsibility." (James 152) Therefore, whether you are devotee of fantastic tales or someone who has never turned on the SyFy channel, we are living in a time where, across the planet, a generation is demanding a reckoning with prevailing narratives and a future which demands we step out of our comfort zones to transform what today may be deemed science fiction into a reimagined inclusive world. In this course, our work will focus upon short stories, critical essays and excerpts from novels by authors such as Rita Indiana, Yoss, Daniel José Older, Gabriel García Márquez, Jaime Hernández, Zoraida Córdova, Frederick Luis Aldama, Isaiah Lavender III, Junot Díaz, Ernest Hogan, Lizz Huerta, Carmen Maria Machado, Gabby Rivera and Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez; film shorts; and a feature length film (or maybe two) such as "The Shape of Water" (Directed by Guillermo del Toro)(2017) and/or "Sleep Dealer" (Directed by Alex Rivera)(2008). 

See you in the Multiverse. 

Citation
"Children of Change, Not Doom: Indigenous Futurist Heroines in YA" Lynette James, Extrapolation 57.  2016. 151-176.