beamjockey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beamjockey) wrote2018-08-12 10:14 pm
beamjockey) wrote2018-08-12 10:14 pm
Entry tags:
My Schedule for Worldcon 76 in San Jose
The 76th World Science Fiction Convention starts this week in San Jose, California, at the San Jose Convention Center. I am pleased to be a program participant. Here are the panels I've been invited to be part of.
Friday Aug 17 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210E
The current definition of an astronaut is someone who crosses the Karman line: 62 miles from the surface of the Earth. With Virgin Galactic selling trips over the line to more than 700 people already, let's start to ask ourselves: who have these idols of society been, really, and how are we going to re-shape our narrative of what an astronaut is and should be in the coming years?
Mary Robinette Kowal (Moderator), Wil McCarthy, Kjell Lindgren, Bill Higgins, Sheyna Gifford
Sunday Aug 19 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210G
Join us for an improv-technology panel - where the audience asks us to design a SFnal device, and the panelists have 5 minutes to come up with our best "non-handwavium" answers.
S. B. Divya (Moderator), Cory Doctorow, Sydney Thomson, Bill Higgins
[Challenging! This will get my adrenaline going, but I'm betting it will be fun.]
Sunday Aug 19 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210A
A popular argument is that modern science fiction emerged as a consequence of the rise of modern science and the secular theory of progress, and rapid changes in human life brought about by technology and industry. But was evolutionary theory of equal, if not more importance, in triggering the development of modern science fiction in the nineteenth century? Was it only after Darwin and other key nineteenth century evolutionary writers that modern science fiction really blossomed? What important and essential themes and ways of thinking did evolution contribute into the creation of modern science fiction?
Tom Lombardo (Moderator), G. David Nordley, Bradford Lyau, David Brin, Bill Higgins
[Thomas Lombardo has recently published Science Fiction - The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future: Volume One, Prometheus to the Martians and this panel springs from that work.]
The Myth of the Astronaut - Who Are the Space Cadets of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow?
Friday Aug 17 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210E
The current definition of an astronaut is someone who crosses the Karman line: 62 miles from the surface of the Earth. With Virgin Galactic selling trips over the line to more than 700 people already, let's start to ask ourselves: who have these idols of society been, really, and how are we going to re-shape our narrative of what an astronaut is and should be in the coming years?
Mary Robinette Kowal (Moderator), Wil McCarthy, Kjell Lindgren, Bill Higgins, Sheyna Gifford
So You Want To Build A Science Fictional Device
Sunday Aug 19 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210G
Join us for an improv-technology panel - where the audience asks us to design a SFnal device, and the panelists have 5 minutes to come up with our best "non-handwavium" answers.
S. B. Divya (Moderator), Cory Doctorow, Sydney Thomson, Bill Higgins
[Challenging! This will get my adrenaline going, but I'm betting it will be fun.]
The Impact of Evolutionary Theory on Nineteenth Century Science Fiction
Sunday Aug 19 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM (1 hour)
San Jose Convention Center - 210A
A popular argument is that modern science fiction emerged as a consequence of the rise of modern science and the secular theory of progress, and rapid changes in human life brought about by technology and industry. But was evolutionary theory of equal, if not more importance, in triggering the development of modern science fiction in the nineteenth century? Was it only after Darwin and other key nineteenth century evolutionary writers that modern science fiction really blossomed? What important and essential themes and ways of thinking did evolution contribute into the creation of modern science fiction?
Tom Lombardo (Moderator), G. David Nordley, Bradford Lyau, David Brin, Bill Higgins
[Thomas Lombardo has recently published Science Fiction - The Evolutionary Mythology of the Future: Volume One, Prometheus to the Martians and this panel springs from that work.]