Descriptif

Course description:  Anthropology of Star Trek and Beyond

The American series Star Trek was first televised in the 1960s, and over the following decades, even up to the present moment, it has inspired many sequels and other science fiction series. Even though it is set in the future and describes encounters between humans and many other alien species, it has nonetheless always engaged with important social issues of our time: issues such as war, the relationships between the sexes,  racial and other social divisions, environmental challenges, and the power and limitations of technology.  It has always dealt, therefore, with larger social and philosophical issues such as: what are the different ways we can organize ourselves as a society? how do we communicate across cultures? what do we learn about ourselves through our encounters with strangers? how does the concept of human evolution help us to understand our place in the world (or outside of it)? and what does it mean to be human? These are some of the many questions dealt with by anthropologists who study human culture, society and language, and which we often ask ourselves even as non-anthropologists when we are confronted with situations of cultural difference through work, travel or study abroad.  In this class, we will discuss these issues and more through watching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and clips from other science fiction shows; reading and learning about important anthropological concepts; and making relevant connections--through reading, writing and oral discussion--between the futuristic fictional worlds we will encounter and the one we know here on Earth.