This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from m...
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In one of her most extraordinary essays, 'The Space Crone,' celebrated sci-fi writer Ursula Le Guin asserts that despite what dominant cultural imaginaries dictate, it is old women who would be best suited to space exploration: able to carry a lifetime of experiences of the earth and its cycles into unknown realms and new relations. In this Literature course, we will take inspiration from Le Guin and engage with science fiction as a genre that is uniquely able to challenge and unsettle the traditional assumptions about human nature. Across six weeks we will read short-stories and extracts from widely celebrated science fiction texts written by a variety of authors from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Each week the literary texts will act as a jumping off point for our discussion of how sci-fi world-building may aid us in identifying and articulating alternative possibilities for psychic and social life on earth.
What will we cover?
As we delve into these compelling sci-fi stories, we'll cover a range of topics and ideas about the role of science fiction, fantasy and the more-than-human. As well as the variety sci-fi tropes play in each story, from the cyborg to the spaceship, we will think about the connection between science fiction and social justice via the different experiences of social reality they re-stage - from marginalised genders and sexualities, to urban environments and ecological catastrophe.
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Be familiar with a range of eminent science fiction writers. • Have an understanding of the renewed popularity of science fiction in contemporary literature. • Be able to analyse and unpack literary texts using some theoretical concepts. • Have some understanding of literary concepts used to interpret the function of science fiction, such as Todorov’s theory of the fantastic. • Extend your understanding of literary form and twenty-first century culture.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is for anyone interested in science fiction, regardless of whether they have studied literature before. All that is needed is an interest in contemporary fiction and enthusiasm for reading texts critically and discussing them with others.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
There will be a variety of teaching methods, including whole group and small group discussions, mini-lectures, working with additional material including critical essays and close reading. While the sessions will be guided by the tutor, there will be an emphasis on group discussion with opportunities for each participant to share their own responses to the texts.
Work outside the class involves doing the set reading for each week, with questions for you to think about in advance.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Digital versions of the stories will be provided by the tutor.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
The tutor will also be teaching HLT372 'The Monstrous Body in Contemporary Fiction' in term one. For other literature courses, please look under Culture, History and Humanities at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Dr. Katie Goss is an independent scholar, writer and artist whose research covers contemporary literature, culture and thought, queer-feminist theory and philosophy, psychoanalysis, trans* studies, posthumanism, and the environmental and medical humanities. They have taught for a number of years in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London and their work has been published or is forthcoming in journals including Transgender Studies Quarterly and Film-Philosophy and edited collections like The Edinburgh Companion to Queer Reading and The Queer Feminist Decolonial Ecologies Dossier (LADA 2020). They are currently working on the publication of their PhD research which explores the ‘plasticity’ or bio-material transformability of contemporary embodiment through womxn’s writing and film.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
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https://www.citylit.ac.uk/space-crones-and-sci-fi-worlds2491207Space Crones and Sci-Fi Worldshttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/literature-taster-poetry-hlt373-1080.jpg169169GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Fiction/Courses/Online courses228511771187118817311228511771187<p>This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from more recent years. As well as the literary texts themselves, we’ll also consider literary theories of the fantastic and the kinds of contexts that sci-fi texts have been addressed to. Across six weeks we will explore how works of science fiction enrich psychic, social and cultural life and help us grapple with the complex politics of the present. For those who have taken the course before, the selection of texts will be different every time it runs - meaning that students can re-enrol and continue to expand their literary horizons. </p>003037630Space Crones and Sci-Fi Worlds169169https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/literature-taster-poetry-hlt373-1080.jpgInStockEveningThuOnlineAvailable courses5-10 weeksWeekday2026-10-01T00:00:00+00:00Some experienceOct 2026Culture, history & humanitiesHLT311169169Space Crones and Sci-Fi Worlds169110169Katie Gossspace-crones-and-sci-fi-worlds/hlt311-2627<p>This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from more recent years. As well as the literary texts themselves, we’ll also consider literary theories of the fantastic and the kinds of contexts that sci-fi texts have been addressed to. Across six weeks we will explore how works of science fiction enrich psychic, social and cultural life and help us grapple with the complex politics of the present. For those who have taken the course before, the selection of texts will be different every time it runs - meaning that students can re-enrol and continue to expand their literary horizons. </p>0000-Available|2026-10-01 00:00:00<p>In one of her most extraordinary essays, 'The Space Crone,' celebrated sci-fi writer Ursula Le Guin asserts that despite what dominant cultural imaginaries dictate, it is old women who would be best suited to space exploration: able to carry a lifetime of experiences of the earth and its cycles into unknown realms and new relations. In this Literature course, we will take inspiration from Le Guin and engage with science fiction as a genre that is uniquely able to challenge and unsettle the traditional assumptions about human nature.<br>Across six weeks we will read short-stories and extracts from widely celebrated science fiction texts written by a variety of authors from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Each week the literary texts will act as a jumping off point for our discussion of how sci-fi world-building may aid us in identifying and articulating alternative possibilities for psychic and social life on earth.</p><p>This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from more recent years. As well as the literary texts themselves, we’ll also consider literary theories of the fantastic and the kinds of contexts that sci-fi texts have been addressed to. Across six weeks we will explore how works of science fiction enrich psychic, social and cultural life and help us grapple with the complex politics of the present. For those who have taken the course before, the selection of texts will be different every time it runs - meaning that students can re-enrol and continue to expand their literary horizons. </p><p>As we delve into these compelling sci-fi stories, we'll cover a range of topics and ideas about the role of science fiction, fantasy and the more-than-human. As well as the variety sci-fi tropes play in each story, from the cyborg to the spaceship, we will think about the connection between science fiction and social justice via the different experiences of social reality they re-stage - from marginalised genders and sexualities, to urban environments and ecological catastrophe.</p><p></p>• Be familiar with a range of eminent science fiction writers. <br>• Have an understanding of the renewed popularity of science fiction in contemporary literature.<br>• Be able to analyse and unpack literary texts using some theoretical concepts.<br>• Have some understanding of literary concepts used to interpret the function of science fiction, such as Todorov’s theory of the fantastic. <br>• Extend your understanding of literary form and twenty-first century culture.This course is for anyone interested in science fiction, regardless of whether they have studied literature before. All that is needed is an interest in contemporary fiction and enthusiasm for reading texts critically and discussing them with others.There will be a variety of teaching methods, including whole group and small group discussions, mini-lectures, working with additional material including critical essays and close reading. While the sessions will be guided by the tutor, there will be an emphasis on group discussion with opportunities for each participant to share their own responses to the texts.<br><br>Work outside the class involves doing the set reading for each week, with questions for you to think about in advance.Digital versions of the stories will be provided by the tutor.<p>The tutor will also be teaching HLT372 'The Monstrous Body in Contemporary Fiction' in term one. For other literature courses, please look under Culture, History and Humanities at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>LiteratureFictionvirtual169169110HLT311NONEThu01/10/26 - 05/11/2618:00 - 19:4518:0019:456 sessions (over 6 weeks)65-10 weeksEveningWeekdayOnlineOnlineKatie GossSome experienceAvailable courses2026-10-01T00:00:00+00:00Oct 2026Culture, history & humanities169169Space Crones and Sci-Fi Worldsspace-crones-and-sci-fi-worlds/hlt311-2627<p>This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from more recent years. As well as the literary texts themselves, we’ll also consider literary theories of the fantastic and the kinds of contexts that sci-fi texts have been addressed to. Across six weeks we will explore how works of science fiction enrich psychic, social and cultural life and help us grapple with the complex politics of the present. For those who have taken the course before, the selection of texts will be different every time it runs - meaning that students can re-enrol and continue to expand their literary horizons. </p>0000-Available|2026-10-01 00:00:00<p>In one of her most extraordinary essays, 'The Space Crone,' celebrated sci-fi writer Ursula Le Guin asserts that despite what dominant cultural imaginaries dictate, it is old women who would be best suited to space exploration: able to carry a lifetime of experiences of the earth and its cycles into unknown realms and new relations. In this Literature course, we will take inspiration from Le Guin and engage with science fiction as a genre that is uniquely able to challenge and unsettle the traditional assumptions about human nature.<br>Across six weeks we will read short-stories and extracts from widely celebrated science fiction texts written by a variety of authors from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Each week the literary texts will act as a jumping off point for our discussion of how sci-fi world-building may aid us in identifying and articulating alternative possibilities for psychic and social life on earth.</p><p>This literature course focuses on the importance of science fiction writing as both a literary form and a mode of theorising the world we inhabit, which may radically transform our ways of interpreting it. We will read and discuss short stories and extracts from the work of eminent sci-fi writers from the 20th and 21st centuries - both well-known authors like Ursula Le Guin and Ted Chiang, as well as exciting new voices from more recent years. As well as the literary texts themselves, we’ll also consider literary theories of the fantastic and the kinds of contexts that sci-fi texts have been addressed to. Across six weeks we will explore how works of science fiction enrich psychic, social and cultural life and help us grapple with the complex politics of the present. For those who have taken the course before, the selection of texts will be different every time it runs - meaning that students can re-enrol and continue to expand their literary horizons. </p><p>As we delve into these compelling sci-fi stories, we'll cover a range of topics and ideas about the role of science fiction, fantasy and the more-than-human. As well as the variety sci-fi tropes play in each story, from the cyborg to the spaceship, we will think about the connection between science fiction and social justice via the different experiences of social reality they re-stage - from marginalised genders and sexualities, to urban environments and ecological catastrophe.</p><p></p>• Be familiar with a range of eminent science fiction writers. <br>• Have an understanding of the renewed popularity of science fiction in contemporary literature.<br>• Be able to analyse and unpack literary texts using some theoretical concepts.<br>• Have some understanding of literary concepts used to interpret the function of science fiction, such as Todorov’s theory of the fantastic. <br>• Extend your understanding of literary form and twenty-first century culture.This course is for anyone interested in science fiction, regardless of whether they have studied literature before. All that is needed is an interest in contemporary fiction and enthusiasm for reading texts critically and discussing them with others.There will be a variety of teaching methods, including whole group and small group discussions, mini-lectures, working with additional material including critical essays and close reading. While the sessions will be guided by the tutor, there will be an emphasis on group discussion with opportunities for each participant to share their own responses to the texts.<br><br>Work outside the class involves doing the set reading for each week, with questions for you to think about in advance.Digital versions of the stories will be provided by the tutor.<p>The tutor will also be teaching HLT372 'The Monstrous Body in Contemporary Fiction' in term one. For other literature courses, please look under Culture, History and Humanities at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>LiteratureFictionconfigurable
11881187Fictionhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/humanities/literature/fiction1/2/285/1177/1187/11881/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Fiction
