"Mars Trilogy" author Kim Stanley Robinson featured at Sixth Annual Social Fiction Conference

May 27, 2014

By Alex Belisario 

Crown College is proud to have successfully hosted its sixth annual Social Fiction Conference, a creative colloquium that works to critically examine and unpack issues of social justice and ethics within the genres of science fiction, fantasy, anime, and gaming. On the first evening alone, students, staff, faculty, and community members were treated to a lesson in Steampunk from local experts, presented with graduate research on the intersections of Asian American Literature and Science Fiction, tested their knowledge of scifi trivia, and enjoyed Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle.

The second day's events began with two keynote presentations: author Kim Stanley Robinson, and Doctor Michael Blumlein. Kim Stanley Robinson presented, “The Invisible Hand Never Picks Up the Check: Justice and Economics;” while Doctor Michael Blumlein presented his work, “The Promise and Perils of Scientific Thinking.” Included in their message was a heartfelt plea for today's students to engage in their community and literally save the world.

Participants then attended 13 different workshops on topics such as an exploration of community in Twitch Plays Pokemon, gender and sexuality in Doctor Who, and writing your own science fiction.

Crown College remains committed to faithfully executing UC Santa Cruz’s “prime directive” of creating engaged world citizens. We offer both thanks and gratitude to the many contributors behind SFC and look forward to next year!