Faculty of Arts & Science
Religious Studies

RELS 3000 - Religion and the Science Fiction Screen

Instructor: James Linville
Day/Time: T (15:05 -- 17:45)
Prerequisite(s): One of RELS1000 or Drama 3030

Although Science Fiction seems to be all about, well, science, it really is in many ways a surrogate for thinking about the kinds of issues that concern religion. From human origins to human destiny, from people “playing God” to vastly more advanced beings treating us as mere nuisances, science fiction produces alternate visions of the past, present and sometimes apocalyptic futures.

This course will look at a selection of landmark science fiction films and television shows to explore how Science Fiction does more than refer to or invent religions but constitutes a genre of imaginative thought that is often directly comparable to religious myth-making.

Warning:  this course is officially designated a “No Jar Jar Binks Zone”