Term of Award
Fall 2019
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading
Committee Chair
John Weaver
Committee Member 1
Daniel Chapman
Committee Member 2
Ming Fang He
Committee Member 3
Nathan Snaza
Committee Member 3 Email
nsnaza@richmond.edu
Abstract
CULTIVATING A PEDAGOGY OF EMPATHY: Teaching Science Fiction in a Changing Biotechnological World
By
KATHY L. AVERY
(Under the Direction of John Weaver)
Abstract
I argue that science fiction affords us the ability to think past our anthropocentrism, opening up a space for us to consider our relationship to burgeoning biotechnologies and the other. I provide critical interpretations of science fiction film and literature, which I believe stimulate the power of the narrative imagination to envision the “netherworld experience of the other”. I believe science fiction provides a site of speculation, a means to better understand and consider the role and position of the post/human as well as the vital issues of human equity and social justice as new technologies challenge the immutability of normatively human boundaries.
Martha Nussbaum asserts that the power of the narrative imagination is crucial to the cultivation of sympathy and empathy which are key components of the best modern ideals of a democratic education. This study extends Nussbaum’s theories on the narrative imagination into the realm of science fiction film and literature. I argue that a pedagogy of science fiction not only awakens awareness of biotechnologies, but also stimulates the narrative imagination to empathetically envision a rapidly changing world.
Index Words: Science fiction, Biotechnology, Moral imagination, Empathy
OCLC Number
1137595078
Recommended Citation
Avery, Kathy, "CULTIVATING A PEDAGOGY OF EMPATHY: Teaching Science Fiction in a Changing Biotechnological World" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Higher Education Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons
