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Tech, Society, and Science Fiction
This is a sample syllabus adapted from a course I taught at Stanford University from 2023–2024. It was originally developed in collaboration with Ban Wang, Professor of China Studies and Comparative Literature.
Course Description
Science Fiction from and about East Asian contexts are more accessible than ever in the English-speaking world. In this class, we examine the hopes, fears, and concerns regarding technology that are expressed through these science fictions. In examining how notable texts, films, and works of art make this genre mode to comment on real world issues, we will debate their relevance to today’s discussions about technological change. We will take a comparative approach to draw out the particular aesthetic and intellectual traditions of Asian cultures and also to observe where commonalities in ideas that transcend borders. Students will learn skills related to literary and aesthetic analysis, ethical reasoning, global perspectives, and communication.
Course Itinerary
Week 1: Utopia, Dystopia, and Science Fiction
Sherryl Vint, Science Fiction
Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas"
Tao Yuanming, "Peach Blossom Spring"
Week 2: Critical Utopia
Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia
Week 3: The Chinese Science Fiction Tradition
Mingwei Song, Fear of Seeing
Lu Xun, "A Madman's Diary"
Week 4: Cosmology and Eco-perspectives
Weiming Tu, lecture from the 2015 Summit of Consciousness on Neo-Confucianism (Youtube)
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, selections
Pope Francis, Laudato Si, selections
Thich Nhat Hanh, "Love Letter to the Earth"
Week 5: Extraction and Colonialism, pt 1
dir. James Cameron, Avatar
Week 6: Extraction and Colonialism, pt 2
Chen Qiufan, Waste Tide
Week 7: De-centering Humanity
Liu Cixin, "The Narcissism of Literature"
dir. Andrew Stanton, Wall-E
Week 8: Class, Technology, and Place
dir. Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer
Hao Jingfang, Folding Beijing
Week 9: The Responsibility of the Scientist
dir. Ishiro Honda, Godzilla
Tong Enzheng, Death Ray on a Coral Island
Week 10: Biotechnology, Authenticity, Reality
Hao Jingfang, Eternal Hospital
Chen Qiufan, "The Fish of Lijiang"
Week 11: Technology, Posthumanism, and Gender
Wei Yahua, Conjugal Bliss in the arms of Morpheus
Week 12: AI and Gender
dir. Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Week 13: What happens to Art and Creativity
Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Wang Yuan, "The Painter of Stars"
Week 14: Can Tech Make Us Happier?
Xia Jia, "The Psychology Game"
Xia Jia, "Tong Tong's Summer"
dir. Chihyung Jeon and Heesun Shin, Hug Me Tight: A Robot Story
Week 15: Tech and Planetary Crisis
Tsering Dondrup, "The Story of the Moon"
dir. Frant Gwo, The Wandering Earth