Prof. Dr. Daniel Hromada
Mythologies of the Future: Between Science Fiction and Reality
Seminar, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
Thursdays, 10-12 h, weekly, starts 16.10.2025, Medienhaus, Grunewaldstr. 2-5, room 110

Registration on Moodle starts on 13.10.2025: https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2858
Enrollment Key: mythology

Are works of science fiction our modern myths? This seminar explores science fiction as a cultural space where imagination, ideology, and archetype converge to shape collective visions of the future. Through close readings and discussions, we will examine seminal texts by authors such as Mary Shelley, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frank Herbert, Octavia E. Butler, Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, Margaret Atwood, Dan Simmons and Nnedi Okorafor, alongside broader popular mythologies like Star Wars and (cyber|solar|nano) punk narratives.

Bringing together anthropological and psychological perspectives, the course investigates how science fiction constructs, reuses, or subverts mythic structures—hero’s journeys, prophetic figures, dystopian paradises—and what these patterns reveal about contemporary hopes, fears, and fantasies. From Promethean inventors of unpredictable Frankensteins to posthuman prophets, we will ask: are these stories speculative projections, or modern rituals of meaning-making?

Literature:
Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
Isaac Asimov – Foundation
Ursula K. Le Guin – The Left Hand of Darkness
Frank Herbert – Dune

Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation: Attend at least 75% sessions. Read at least one science-fiction book from the above-mentioned list You haven't read before.

Daniel Devatman Hromada is since August 2018 UdK’s Juniorprofessor for Digital Education at Einstein Center Digital Future. Born in 1982 in Bratislava, he holds bachelor degrees in humanities from Charles University (Prague) and linguistics from University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis; master degree in artificial and natural cognition from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris). In 2016, a successful defense of his Thesis “Evolutionary modelis of ontogeny of linguistic categories”, entitled Daniel to carry a double doctorate from both Slovak Technical University (cybernetics) as well as University Paris 8 – Lumieres (psychology). Father of two children, he is a founder and first senator of oldest Slovak digital community kyberia.sk.