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HISC 87 - 01   What is Utopia?

2023 Summer Quarter

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Class Details

Career
Undergraduate
Grading
Student Option
Class Number
70528
Type
Lecture
Instruction Mode
Synchronous Online
Credits
5 units
General Education
TA
Status
Open
Available Seats
5
Enrollment Capacity
20
Enrolled
15
Wait List Capacity
0
Wait List Total
0

Description

Utopia translates to ''no place'' though it sounds identical to another Greek word, ''eutopia,'' or ''good place.'' This double meaning speaks to the desire for the ideal society coupled with the very impossibility of its creation. While the term utopia originated in the tradition of political philosophy, this course opens up discussion to a range of utopian thinking in the domains of literature, philosophy, and theory. Some of the questions students tackle are: What are some common elements of utopian imaginaries? Are utopias always already dystopias? How is the concept of utopia connected to the way we shape and experience space? Close reading and discussion of written and visual texts is complemented by analytical and creative writing exercises that engage the themes.

Class Notes

A guiding question of this course: Do we need the concept of utopia even as we realize it is unachievable? Readings include Thomas More, Italo Calvino, Saidiya Hartman, Donna Haraway, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, and others.

Meeting Information

Days & Times Room Instructor Meeting Dates
TuTh 01:00PM-04:30PM Online Parkin,J.E. 06/26/23 - 07/28/23
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