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12017-11-15T04:01:00-08:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc3526279196A digital anthology from the New Literacies, Technologies, and Cultures of Writing classes at Valparaiso Universityplain2022-05-26T14:22:19-07:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc35
A digital anthology from the New Literacies, Technologies, and Cultures of Writing classes at Valparaiso University
This project presents sections from eight works of speculative fiction, all of which feature digital media and immersive worlds. Ernst Cline's Ready Player One features gaming in virtual reality as an escape from a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Malka Older's Infomocracy portrays a world at relative peace in which nations are no longer restricted to geography, yet elections are only as secure as the information on cyber networks. Dave Eggers' The Circle showcases the best of the world's most prominent social media company--until its dependence on transparency calls for the end of privacy. Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem features a VR game for pondering questions of scientific and cosmic significance. William Gibson's Agencycenters on contact, with the help of a precocious AI, between alternative and future versions of our own history. N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Seasonportrays a world in which geothermal activity posts a constant threat--and in which an oppressed people with the power to control the activity embody its only hope. Ted Chiang's collection of short fiction, Exhalation, melds fantastic and futuristic worlds with questions of philosophy including what it means to be a person, have freewill, communicate with precision vs. communicating the truth, and maintain one's faith when science "proves" exactly what is fiction. Gish Jen's The Resisterstells of a baseball star born to educated parents who are committed to social justice--but who are considered to be "unretrainable" by AutoAmerica's artificial intelligence, "Aunt Nettie." Together, the novels portray fragile environments that might only be saved by wise use of science and technology.
Pictured above: microdemocracies as they might appear on a map in Infomocracy; the pyramids as they appear in the immersive game, Three Body; the avatar of Eunice, the sophisticated AI in Agency; James Halliday's avatar, Anorak, as he appears in the film Ready Player One; a fiery landscape all too typical in The Fifth Season; Mae Holland at work in the film The Circle.
Contents of this path:
12019-12-11T09:49:47-08:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc35About the Anthology24plain2022-05-09T13:48:29-07:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc35
12019-12-11T09:28:22-08:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc35Ready Player One30plain2022-05-09T13:48:50-07:00Elizabeth Burow-Flak4f9877ad9886eb04a10ae8ec4926f06e5b50fc35
1media/Immersive Worlds Project logo 2020_thumb.png2021-12-17T18:25:09-08:00Immersive Worlds Project logo 20201media/Immersive Worlds Project logo 2020.pngplain2021-12-17T18:25:09-08:00