The Story of Science Fiction

At a Glance

  • Live online course
  • 20 weeks | October - March
  • Tuesdays 18:00 - 20:00
  • Fees from £270
  • Tutor: Dr Glyn Morgan
Booking link

Enrolment deadline

Courses starting in October 2023

  • 8 October 2023

The Story of Science Fiction is a journey into the history of science fiction in literature, film, art and television. We invite you to join Dr Glyn Morgan of London's Science Museum on a live-online exploration of the history and form of science fiction through the ages.

Science fiction is currently going through a renaissance, and this course is designed to give us the opportunity to explore the history and development of science fiction in all its forms. We will look at work from the start of science fictional thought from ancient myth to writers such as Margaret Cavendish in the seventeenth century, through to the creators of blockbuster science fiction movies today.

We will discover how the genre has evolved, how it has manifested itself in different media and at different times, and how it often says as much about the time in which it is created as it does about an imagined future. On the course we will look at a number of science fiction writers and film and television makers in detail, as well as at the changing aesthetic of imagined worlds in science fiction art, literature and film.

Along the way the course will also examine how science fiction has changed the world, from cultural movements to influencing the development of life-saving technologies like pacemakers, or everyday objects like mobile phones. As well as shaped the way we think about ourselves and our future from human beings colonising Mars to utopian societies rebuilding Earth.

Class Recordings

These classes are not recorded

 

Attendance Certificate

 

Successful completion of this course leads to the award of an Imperial College attendance certificate

 

Terms and conditions apply to all enrolments to this course. Please read them before enrolment

Course Information

Course Programme (programme and exact order of classes are subject to modification)

AUTUMN TERM

  • Session 1: What is Science Fiction (SF)?
  • Session 2: Proto-SF: Imaginary Voyages, Dreams and Visions
  • Session 3: Frankenstein, 1818: The Birth of a Genre?
  • Session 4: Scientific Romance
  • Session 5: American Pulp
  • Session 6: What is a Golden Age?
  • Session 7: New Wave
  • Session 8: Punking SF
  • Session 9: Queering SF

** Christmas break **

SPRING TERM

  • Session 10: Alternate History
  • Session 11: Arabic SF
  • Session 12: Space Opera
  • Session 13: SF Comics
  • Session 14: Chinese SF
  • Session 15: SF Art
  • Session 16: Architecture and SF
  • Session 17: Afrofuturism
  • Session 18: Science, Poetry and SF
  • Session 19: Ecological SF
  • Session 20: 21st Century SF


Additional Reading

To enable discussion, a selection of short stories and extracts will be provided by the tutor each week.

Glyn Morgan photo Dr Glyn Morgan is a curator at the Science Museum in London working on the major exhibition "Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination" opening in October 2022, exploring the links between science and science fiction. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. He is author of Imagining the Unimaginable: Speculative Fiction and the Holocaust (Bloomsbury, 2020) and co-editor of Sideways in Time: Critical Essays on Alternate History Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 2019) which was shortlisted for a British Science Fiction Association Award. As well as the editor of the companion volume to the Science Museum Exhibition, published by Thames & Hudson in Autumn 2022.

WeeksStandard RateInternal RateAssociate Rate
 20 Early Bird: £453
Full price: £503
 Early Bird: £270
Full price: £300		 Early Bird: £356
Full price: £396
All fee rates quoted are for the whole 2-term course. Early Bird rates available 1 August to 30 September 2023 only. Part-payments are not possible.

 

Rate Categories and Discounts


Standard Rate

  • Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category.

Internal Rate

  • Current Imperial College students and staff (incl. Imperial NHS Trust, Imperial Innovations, ancillary & service staff employed on long-term contracts at Imperial College by third-party contractors)
  • People enrolling under our Friends & Family scheme
  • Alumni of Imperial College and predecessor colleges and institutes, including City & Guilds College Association members
  • Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music and City, UAL and the City and Guilds of London Art School
  • Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School

Associate Rate

  • Austrian Cultural Forum staff
  • Co-operative College members
  • Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and students
  • Friends and Patrons of the English Chamber Orchestra
  • Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
  • Friends of Leighton House/ Sambourne House
  • Friends of the Royal College of Music
  • Harrods staff
  • Historic Royal Palaces staff
  • Lycee Charles de Gaulle staff
  • Members of the Friends of Imperial College
  • Members of the Kennel Club
  • Members of the London Zoological Society
  • Members of the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI)
  • Members of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
  • National Health Service (NHS) employees
  • Natural History Museum staff
  • Residents of postcodes SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 and W8
  • Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council staff
  • Royal Geographical Society staff
  • Science Museum staff
  • Staff of Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) organisations
  • Students (non-Imperial College)
  • Teachers and other staff of UK schools
  • Tutors and other staff of institution members of the Association of Colleges
  • Tutors and other staff of other universities and higher education institutions
  • Victoria and Albert Museum staff

Late enrolment

It is possible to enrol on many of our adult education courses after the course has already started. For non-language courses this is subject entirely to agreement by the tutor. For language courses it is subject to agreement by the language coordinator conducting level assessment. If you want to join a course late do bear in mind there might be work you will need to catch up on, particularly in language courses.

Friends and Family Scheme

This course is eligible for allowing Imperial College students and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.

WeeksAutumn termSpring termSummer term
 20 Week commencing 16 October to week ending 16 December 2023 (9 weeks) Week commencing 8 January to week ending 23 March 2024 (11 weeks) n/a
Term 1 and 2 are separated by the Christmas break

Web enrolment starts 1 August 2023. Early bird discounts are available from 1 August to 30 September 2023

Enrolment and payment run through the Imperial College eStore. When enrolling:

  • Do check on the drop down menu above called "Course Fees and Rate Categories" to see if you are eligible for a discounted rate and also do make sure you select that rate when enrolling on the eStore
  • If you are a first-time eStore user you will need to create an account before enrolling. You can do this by entering an email address and password. This account can then be used for any future enrolments via the eStore.

When you have enrolled you will be sent the following email notifications:

What is sentWhen is it sentWhat does it contain
1. Payment confirmation Is sent straight away following submission of your online application
  • This is a receipt for your payment and includes payment date, order number and course title
  • Confirmation of your place on your chosen course will follow later as long as the course recruits enough students to run. If not you will receive a refund of your payment.
2. Enrolment confirmation Is usually sent within 10 working days. Please treat your payment confirmation as confirmation that your applicant details and payment have been received
  • Confirms your course choice
  • Shows your course's term dates
  • Confirms the day and time of your course
3. Programme information Is usually sent on Friday late afternoon the week before term starts
  • Contains joining instructions for your course, either online or in the classroom, depending on the course
 
  • If you need further help with the above information please ring 020 7594 8756 / +44 20 7594 8756.
  • All enrolments are provisional until the course is confirmed to run. This will be dependent on the course reaching the minimum number of enrolments.
  • All enrolments are subject to our Terms and Conditions. It is not possible to join one of our courses without agreeing to be bound by our Terms and Conditions.

If you have any questions about the academic content or teaching of this course please contact the Course Tutor, Dr Glyn Morgan, drgrmorgan@gmail.com

If you have any questions about your enrolment or payment processes please contact the Programme Administrator, Christian Jacobi, eveningclass@imperial.ac.uk