DAY 1 - JULY 11, 2009

Time	Action	Outcome
9.30-11.00	Reading The Copernican Revolution	Sci-fi begins with this, paradigm shift of cosmology Science takes on the Church/religion/theology – the political nature of science
11.00-11.3	BREAK
11.30-12.45	Reading and discussion of Ray Bradbury’s classic The Veldt	Where is the science in this? What is the context? Where does the humanities connect with science in this? Does progress erase the primal in humanity? Keywords: Animism/AI/Virtual reality/Machine consciousness/Cyborg/Psychology/Dependency on machines-automation/Generation Gap/Television-Happylife Home/ Dystopia
1.30-3.30	Film: Logan’s Run	Notions of Dystopia/Utopia The Dome Short-lived happiness made possible by and controlled by technologies (technature) or longevity with attendant discomforts (nature) Robotic “intelligence” (metaphor of Box)
Assignment	Find an area in science/technology that you are particularly interested in – AI, Virtual Reality, Biology, Space, Interplanetary Travel, Viruses, Ecosystems, Time, Dimensionality, whatever. Bring back a short sci-fi story from that space.
Facilitators	Avy, Joanna Hoffmann, Nicolas Grandi, Victor Vina