Any questions? Contact me → [email protected]

Annotation  Today, historians of outer space are talking about the dawn of the Second Space Age. With the renewed interest in space exploration – propelled by successful scientific missions, new players in space industry from private sector and the promise of landing on the Moon until the end of this decade – we can see renewed interest in outer space by humanities and social science. Anthropologists study scientific and engineering practices, scholars of visual cultures analyze meaning of satellite images, legal scholars are intrigued by treaties that regulate traffic on Earth’s orbit or by claims of ownership on other celestial bodies, and philosophers reflect upon ethical duties humans have towards their planet.

This course is designed as an introduction to outer space humanities and social sciences, aimed at familiarizing the students with their history, methods, concepts, and theories. Special emphasis will be placed on developing interdisciplinary competences of the students: at the end of the course, students will be able to read and understand texts from broad range of disciplines in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, allowing them to competently navigate themselves in expert astronomic discourses, popular culture as well as philosophical reflections.

Deliverables  During the 6 weeks of text seminars and group discussions, students will conduct research in teams of 2-3 students, mentored by the course instructor. This research will combine ethnographic methods, work with archival materials, analysis of popular culture and critical text reading, and its final form will be a poster presentation on the last course session with collective Q&A session. The progress of the research will be reported by the teams on weekly check-ins during the seminars. On top of that, students will submit short individual reading reports twice a week.

Schedule  Week 1: The First Space Age – history of outer space humanities until Hubble Telescope  Week 2: The planet as a problem – solar system astronomy and environmental ethics  Week 3: Gestures of cosmic relation – exoplanetary science and astrobiology  Week 4: Is anyone out there? – SETI and post-detection scenarios  Week 5: Orbital cultures – satellite imagery, social meaning of outer space and space utopias  Week 6: Interstellar politics – outer space conflicts and legal dimension of outer space

Further details Type of course: 4-credit course, 6 weeks, 2 sessions per week

Instructor: Lukáš Likavčan  Personal website: likavcan.com

Office room: N843  Office hours: Every Wednesday 13:30-15:30 Schedule office hours: https://calendly.com/likavcan/20-mins-checkin

Course dates: May 21-June 28, 2024  Time: 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Sign up for the course via: NYU Albert Application due date: April 14, 2024

Any questions? Contact me → [email protected]