For those science fiction oriented folks in the Atlanta area, I would encourage you to check out this free public lecture at Georgia Tech’s Library on April 1. I wish that I could be there, because I definitely would have some questions for Professor Rosa. Here are the details:
The School of Literature, Communication, and Culture
and the Science Fiction Collection at Georgia Tech present
science fiction studies scholar
Jorge Martins Rosa
Thursday, April 1, 2010, 11:00 a.m.
“Stars in My Pocket”
FREE PUBLIC LECTURE
The Neely Room
Georgia Tech Library and Information Center
The trope of space exploration, which has attracted so many writers of genre science fiction, still remains one of its hallmarks. Professor Rosa, however, questions the true centrality of this trope within science fiction as it has evolved beyond the space operas of the so-called Golden Age. Perhaps, as David Hartwell argues in Age of Wonders in regards to the Moon landing and other achievements from the American space program “When it comes true… it’s no fun anymore.”
While establishing the truth of Hartwell’s hypothesis may be difficult to undertake within the limitations of a single talk, Professor Rosa will look at the peculiar way Philip K. Dick approached the trope of space exploration in his own fiction. In particular, he will explore how Dick anticipated the exhaustion of this trope—or rather, its substitution for a more inner (should we say “virtual”?) approach to space.
Jorge Martins Rosa is Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, where he teaches courses including the post-graduate seminars “Fictional Modes: Fiction and Technology” and “Cyberculture.” His research interests involve the connections between literature, science, and digital culture. His visit to Georgia Tech is part of a research project on “Fiction and the Roots of Cyberculture.”
Dynamic Subspace 