New Podcast Episode: Race, Religion, and Science Fiction
Co-Created Learning, unEssays, and the Power of Film #70
Happy Monday, Sweet and Condensed Fam!
In this latest episode of Sweet & Condensed, we are moving beyond the screen to explore how the stories we watchâand the ways we learn about themâcan fundamentally reshape our reality. I sat down again with Patrick DâSilva, PhD, from World Beyond Worlds to discuss his well-loved course: Race, Religion, and Science Fiction.
As we often say here, movies are magic: they change things (shoutout bell hooks), orient us, and help us find a sense of âhomeâ within ourselves. In this episode, Patrick and I dive into why science fiction and fantasy are the perfect vessels for asking the questions:
Defining the Human: What does it mean to be alive, and what happens when we encounter âthe otherâ?
Speculative Futures: Exploring the power of Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurism to center the experiences of those often left out of traditional narratives.
Fandom as Faith: From the rise of Jediism to the âreligiousâ atmosphere of Comic-Con, we look at how fictional worlds provide real-world orientation.
The âunEssayâ
One of the most inspiring parts of this conversation is Patrickâs approach to pedagogy. Rejecting the traditional âlecture and repeatâ model, he grants his students immense autonomy, allowing them to choose how they are evaluated through creative projects or âunEssaysâ.
âYouâre not human workings or human readings or human producers... youâre human beings. You exist. And we can change education so that we honor that.â
We discuss some of the incredible student work born from this freedom, including:
An illustrated version of the journal from Octavia Butlerâs Parable of the Sower.
Audio tracks designed to evoke the gothic horror vibes of short stories.
A cookbook inspired by speculative fiction.
From Arrakis to the Arctic Circle
Whether weâre discussing the âsensorial experienceâ of seeing Dune: Part Two in a theater or Patrickâs recent first-time read of Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein, the core message remains the same: we are all smarter together than we are alone.
Race, Religion, and Science Fiction: Co-Created Learning, unEssays, and the Power of Film #70
đ§ Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
đĽ Watch this episode on YouTube
Josh interviews Patrick DâSilva, PhD, about his graduate special-topics course âRace, Religion, and Science Fiction,â developed from an upper-level âReligion and Science Fictionâ class and expanded to foreground race alongside gender, sexuality, and disability through units on Lord of the Rings, Star Wars/Star Trek, Indigenous Futurism, Afrofuturism/Africanfuturism, cyberpunk (including Neuromancer), monsters (Frankenstein), and Jediism as a fiction-based religious movement.
Patrick describes a student-autonomy model where students help shape the syllabus, choose evaluation methods, and can submit response papers as podcasts and final âunEssaysâ as creative projects (e.g., illustrated journals, roleplaying games, cookbooks, audio tracks, paintings), including course examples like a Wakanda zine and Parable of the Sower-inspired journaling.
He connects this pedagogy to flexibility and compassion shaped by his teaching, parenting a child with special needs, and the pandemic, and explains using film/TV because students are increasingly oriented to visual media, which also supports immersion, participation, and representation.
Patrickâs Substack/podcast project âWorlds Beyond Worldsâ is now live, where he will publish interviews with students about their projects.
Website:
Spotify:
Apple Podcasts:
Timestams:
02:29 Course Origins
06:39 Student Led Syllabus
08:22 Creative unEssays
17:37 Holistic Learning
26:24 Why Film And TV
33:19 Teaching Without Ego
41:36 Representation On Screen
49:56 Improvising In The Classroom
55:34 Orientation And Meaning
56:30 Wrap Up And Plugs
Subscribe to Sweet & Condensed! A weekly newsletter that lets you know at a glance if the latest box office releases are worth your time and money and what to expect if you decide to go.
Why you'll love it - Think all the movie love and fun, none of the snobbery. We're doing this because we love people, movies, and the magic that lives where they meet.
Support us on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/SweetAndCondensed
Connect with us!
YouTube:
@SweetAndCondensed
Instagram:
â â @_SweetAndCondensed_
Twitter:
@justjoshperez â â â â â
â â â â â @EricHarrisonâ â â â â
@NewMexicoDrew
Letterboxd:
@NewMexicoDrew
â @ericharrisonâ â â â â â
â â @JustJoshPerezâ â â â
@kellyharrison
The Sweet and Condensed podcast is a Three Milks Media production. â â â â