HUMN 242 Dystopia: Good World Gone Bad

This course is an exploration of the concept, representation, and reality of dystopia. Dystopia means 'bad place,' yet describes a failed societal structure that was meant to be good. This encompasses imagined places and societies, the ideas behind them, and where they went wrong. Students will survey dystopias through literature, visual arts, film, video games, and historical and contemporary examples. Deeper study in topics within the genre will allow students to individually pursue more thoroughly the dystopic aspects that interest them.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3 hours weekly

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the founding ideas and mechanisms of failure behind imagined or instituted societal
   structures.
2. 2. Compare and contrast how various writers, artists, and other groups have portrayed failed ideals
   in imagined physical and societal structures.
3. 3. Evaluate the commonalities and differences in the focus revealed in dystopias across divisions
   of the humanities and over the course of human history.
4. 4. Explore the continued human desire to move toward the ideal in constructing a human
   environment.
5. 5. Demonstrate how thinkers and artists can transform their fears into works of art that serve as
   warning to their contemporaries and future generations.
   
6. 6. Examine the question of the corruption of ideals and the inevitability or avoidability of such
   corruption through review of philosophical, social psychological, political, and sociological
   theory.
7. 7. Recognize and comment upon contemporary examples of “living dystopias” and possible
   preventions and interventions.
8. 8. Analyze the utility of artistic depictions of dystopia in effecting change in the world.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Analyze the founding ideas and mechanisms of failure behind imagined or instituted societal
   structures.
2. 2. Compare and contrast how various writers, artists, and other groups have portrayed failed ideals
   in imagined physical and societal structures.
3. 3. Evaluate the commonalities and differences in the focus revealed in dystopias across divisions
   of the humanities and over the course of human history.
4. 4. Explore the continued human desire to move toward the ideal in constructing a human
   environment.
5. 5. Demonstrate how thinkers and artists can transform their fears into works of art that serve as
   warning to their contemporaries and future generations.
   
6. 6. Examine the question of the corruption of ideals and the inevitability or avoidability of such
   corruption through review of philosophical, social psychological, political, and sociological
   theory.
7. 7. Recognize and comment upon contemporary examples of “living dystopias” and possible
   preventions and interventions.
8. 8. Analyze the utility of artistic depictions of dystopia in effecting change in the world.