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The central goal of the Social Fiction Conference (SFC) is to create a unique way of analyzing issues of social justice. Through interactive workshops, students, staff, and faculty will increase their understanding of social justice issues by examining fictitious societies found in the genres of science fiction, fantasy,and gaming and by exploring their real life corollaries.
The SFC will be an intensive 1 1/2 day exploration, where presenters and attendees will engage in analytical dialogue and innovative ideas, centered on social justice issues that are prevalent in the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and gaming.
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Friday - April 3, 2009
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- Registration
- Keynote Speaker
- Opening Celebration/Activity
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5:00 - 9:00 PM
6:45 - 7:30 PM
7:30 - 8:30 PM
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Saturday - April 4, 2009
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- Breakfast/Late Registration
- Opening/Recap Speaker
- Workshop 1
- Lunch
- Workshop 2
- Workshop 3
- Closing Speaker
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10:00 - 10:45 AM
10:45 - 11:15 AM
11:30 - 12:30 PM
12:30 - 1:30 PM
1:45 - 2:45 PM
3:00 - 4:00 PM
4:15 - 5:30 PM
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Monday - April 6, 2009
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- Optional Follow-Up Session
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7:00 - 9:00 PM
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- Target students' interests and talk about issues of social justice.
- Create an opportunity for collaboration between students and staff.
- Create a unique opportunity to engage Crown students in the community.
- Link academic and co-curricular programs.
- Contribute to the core mission of the institution by providing co-curricular opportunities to engage with academic themes.
- To provide workshops in a wide range of topical areas such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability and religion.
- Raise consciousness around issues of social justice.
- Give students practical strategies to incorporate raising awareness of social justice in their own lives.
- Give students the opportunity to build relationships and become familiar with other resources on campus.
- Present an opportunity for students to learn tangible skills pertaining to research and presentation skills to put together a University level workshop.
- Give students the skills to plan and execute a University wide conference.
- Build awareness of a range of perspectives on individual, institutional, and cultural oppression and privilege.
- Through the workshops, increase students' ability to critically analyze media literacy.
- Through the overall theme, develop students' sense of individual and collective responsibility.
Our hope is to have the UCSC undergraduate students work closely with faculty, staff, and community members to make this conference a collective and collaborative effort. The target audience for the SFC is UCSC undergraduate students, but the conference is open to any UCSC student, faculty, staff, or community members at large.
Several workshop intentions have been developed as:
- Workshop should be no longer than one hour in duration, including introduction and time for questions and answers.
- Workshop should immerse attendees in one or more science fiction, fantasy and/or gaming properties and/or characters.
- Workshop should focus on social justice issues that are prevalent in the science fiction, fantasy, and/or gaming world.
- Workshop should be interactive, getting attendees involved as much as possible through activities and open forum discussions.
- Workshop should increase attendees' media literacy.
- Workshop should be engaging for both the presenter and the attendees.
- Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (television series): The careful and deliberate examination of Spike that allows us to challenge our own prejudices and preconceived notions about a particular race.
- J.K Rowling's "Harry Potter" (book series): The systematic struggle of house elves demanding equality. Who appears to be apathetic to this struggle, and who works hard to create justice? How does this reflect on their own identities?
- Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto (video game): The intentional use of female characters, and their role in the progression of the game.
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