First-Year Studies: Utopia

“Utopia has always been a political issue, an unusual destiny for a literary form”—Fredric Jameson

This course explores the idea of utopia in literature, beginning with St. Thomas More’s Utopia and moving through diverse works of science fiction, speculative fiction, and postcolonial literature. We will contextualize the notion of “utopia” within the tradition of Marxist critical theory, as well as investigate issues of race, gender, and sexuality as they have been articulated in recent decades. The primary focus of the course will be on 20th-century literature and the politics of the contemporary age—globalization, digital technologies, and environmental crisis. Literature, philosophy, and politics will each play a significant role in coursework.