LIT 3313 - Spring 2026 - Sevin

This course begins from the premise that science fiction, as a genre of “cognitive estrangement,” in Darko Suvin’s famous definition, holds a distinctive capacity to address, interrogate, and reimagine ecological crises. We will explore how speculative narratives challenge the boundaries between human and nonhuman, culture and nature, technology and ecology, while offering visions of possible ecofutures and alternative modes of living. Focusing primarily on American science fiction from the 1960s to the present, we will examine key works in dialogue with the rise of modern environmental movements and ecological thought. Through novels, short stories, and critical readings, we will ask: How does science fiction represent the interconnectedness of life systems? How do imagined worlds grapple with climate change, species extinction, resource scarcity, and planetary ethics? Can speculative storytelling expand our ecological imagination beyond apocalypse and survivalism toward visions of collective flourishing?