Category Archives: science fiction

OUTER RANGE: Western/Sci-Fi Hybrid incorporates realistic struggle with religious commitments

Last weekend my wife and I binge watched a series from Amazon Prime. It was OUTER RANGE, a Western/science fiction combination that I heard about in watching one of the stars, Josh Brolin, as he ate through the hot sauce on wings challenge on the show HOT ONES. I’m a fan of Brolin’s work, and […]

Cronenberg’s THE FLY, Transporters, and Atheism

I’ve never been a big fan of David Cronenberg’s The Fly, preferring the 1950s version, but when this video came across my YouTube feed I was intrigued. I enjoy the analysis of Rob Ager and Collative Learning, and his suggestion that The Fly should be understood as have an atheistic subtext is intriguing. Although Cronenberg […]

Peace, Conflict and Neuroscience: Science Fiction Helps Protect Against Genocide

My academic and popular interests and research overlap with the concept of monstrosity. This week I found a great website with a lot of resources that combine my interests in the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab. One of their articles is titled “Finding Humanity in Alien Eyes: What science fiction films can tell us about […]

Titles of Interest – “Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred”

Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred Richard Grigg Bloomsberry, 2018 This book examines science fiction’s relationship to religion and the sacred through the lens of significant books, films and television shows. It provides a clear account of the larger cultural and philosophical significance of science fiction, and explores its potential sacrality in today’s […]

ZYGON essay: “The Creation Account in Genesis and the Idea of the Artificial Humanoid

Terry Wright of the Sacred Writings blog made me aware of the following essay in ZYGON: Journal of Religion and Science: “CREATORS AND CREATURES: THE CREATION ACCOUNT IN GENESIS AND THE IDEA OF THE ARTIFICIAL HUMANOID” Gábor Ambrus First published: 19 August 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12534 Abstract Science fiction, this article argues, provides an imaginative domain which can […]

“The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom: Essays on the Intersection of Religion and Pop Culture” now available

The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom: Essays on the Intersection of Religion and Pop Culture (McFarland, 2019). This is another work of mine that was recently completed.  I am especially thankful for my co-editors who came on at my invitation to help finish the volume once an urgent personal issue upended my writing and editing schedule. […]

Book Cover for my forthcoming volume “The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom”

The cover design for one of the book projects I’ve been working on for a while. My thanks to the best book cover designers UK has, and my co-editors who came on board when the needs of the book and my life circumstances at the time meant I needed a lot of help to get […]

Call for Abstracts: Theology and Westworld

Edited by Juli Gittinger and Shayna Sheinfeld The television series Westworld has garnered significant interest from academics as well as from wide audiences. While many of its themes and plot motifs represent longstanding focuses in science fiction, the treatment of them has stood out as especially creative in a number of ways. While the creation […]

Titles of Interest: Pseudoscience and Science Fiction

Pseudoscience and Science Fiction by Andre May Springer, 2017 Aliens, flying saucers, ESP, the Bermuda Triangle, antigravity … are we talking about science fiction or pseudoscience? Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference. Both pseudoscience and science fiction (SF) are creative endeavours that have little in common with academic science, beyond the superficial trappings […]

“WAR” completes great “APES” trilogy

The final film in the APES reboot trilogy, War for the Planet of the Apes, has been well received by audiences, fans, and critics alike. As a result, a lot has been written on the film that covers a lot of ground by way of commentary. I’ve written quite a bit about various aspects of […]

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