Topics in Communication Studies (295-0-20)

Topic

AfroFeministFutures

Instructors

Moya Z Bailey

Meeting Info

Frances Searle Building 2107: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This course invites students to explore feminist speculative fiction as a site for social justice
advocacy. Students will read classic feminist and afrofuturist science fiction as they prepare
their own original short stories for publication. Drawing heavily on the work of feminist
afrofuturist Octavia Butler, students will engage imaginative narratives that allow them to
think through solutions to the problems of our time. Students will explore the genre
elements of short stories and speculative fiction, ultimately integrating these lessons into
their own short stories. This is a writing and reading intensive class.

Class Materials (Required)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin
Blood Child by Octavia Butler
The Feminist Utopia Project
Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Born in Flames (1983)
Cosmic Slop (1994)
Pumzi (2010)