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Queer Robotics: Cyborgs in Science Fiction & Anthropology

Have robots always been queer? What do representations of robots and cyborgs in popular film, sci-fi literature, and cultural anthropology tell us about what it means to be “human?”

In this class we will use critical race studies, queer and feminist theory, crip studies, and science and technology studies (STS) to analyze representations of “cyborg” bodies in speculative fiction and ethnography. Our case examples explore the politics of the body through narratives of military research, artificial intelligence, sex work, urbanism and segregation, deep space and deep ocean research, prosthetics and athleticism, new reproductive technologies, and more. We will engage with poetry, film, visual art, and speculative fiction to explore how bodies are dreamed, crafted, and represented.