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Women Writing Climate (Science) Fiction
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:07:38
Abstract
This course engages with climate fiction by female authors via the interrelations between climate, science and fiction. Climate science has shaped our ‘climate imaginaries’ from the early 19th century to the present day, particularly through a domineering ‘masculinist’ lens, but we are focused on interesting female-authored alternatives in climate science-inspired narratives.
Objective
This course aims to: 1) Deepen students’ understanding of climate fiction, climate science, and the intersection between the two. 2) Allow students to confidently conduct critical analyses of climate fiction texts, considering genre and socio-cultural context. 3) Strengthen students’ ability to engage with climate fiction and climate science in their own work.
Content
Climate science has historically been communicated, popularised and demonised through climate fiction narratives, with modern climate fiction arguably beginning with Mary Shelley’s response in Frankenstein to contemporary science on supposed planetary cooling by the Comte de Buffon in the 18th century. In this course, we will look at how scientific findings such as these – ranging from de Buffon over the development of various climate modelling systems from the 1960s onward, as well as IPCC reports from the 1990s onward, and into the intersectional ‘Rising Voices’ programme on convergent science since 2012 – have shaped and influenced the climate fiction of the time, particularly in women's writing opposing prevailing ‘masculinist’ narratives of domination over a rebelling planet. We will concentrate primarily on five novels: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), with its focus both on fears of global cooling as well as on the ‘vitalism’ debate of the time; Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993), with its extended modelling of climate destruction leading to social unrest and heightened marginalisation as well as new paths towards resilience; Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior (2012), with its exploration of the sixth mass extinction and its consequences in multispecies and economically diverse communities; N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season (2015), with its exploration of such entanglement in a literal seismic connection that even goes beyond Butler’s hyperempathy in Parable of the Sower; and Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves (2017), which lifts up Indigenous climate knowledges as celebrated in the ‘Rising Voices’ programme through allegorising the power of Indigenous dreaming. This course should be of interest to any students who are interested in the connection between historical and contemporary (climate) science and fiction, expressed through various genres ranging from the Gothic to realism, science fiction and fantasy. The goal is to explore in depth how 'real' climate science narratives shape fictional ones and vice versa, and how gaining a better understanding of this interrelation can help us make us better choices for climate survival in many different fields.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS , DR , MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 30
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | Women Writing Climate (Science) Fiction | No time listed | 2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
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Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
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Doctorate Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (More Information at: )