Critical Outer Space Studies
Dates of the course: 10 October 2024 to 16 December 2024
Teaching language(s): English
Credits: 3 ECTS
Contact: universeh@univ-tlse2.fr
Universities involved: Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès / Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Profile and prerequisites: Master’s level / English level B2
Teaching modalities: Online synchronous sessions via Zoom are scheduled Monday mornings from 10:30 to 12:00.
Student mobility: One-week mobility to attend a workshop in Düsseldorf in November 2024.
Assessment modalities:
The course is open to students from these universities: Open to students who can participate in the one-week mobility in November.
Lecturer:
- Claire Cazajous-Augé
- Jens Temmen
Objectives: This course will pay particular attention to how, in recent years, the exploration of outer space has been invigorated via its role as a potential remedy for the challenges of the Anthropocene (via resource extractivism, resettlement, off-world heavy industry, observation of impacts of climate change on a global scale).
Course Learning Outcomes:
• Understand the historical, literary, cultural, legal discourses and ethics surrounding the exploration and settlement of outer space.
• Apply interdisciplinary approach.
• Analyze the historical, literary, cultural, legal discourses and ethics surrounding the exploration and settlement of outer space.
• Evaluate and reflect on own disciplinary background through the lens of a critical studies approach.
• Create and/or contribute to the establishment of continuous class format for critical introduction to space studies.
• Create and/or contribute to the establishment of a guidebook/introductory manuscript for critical space studies, for further implementation in UNIVERSEH project.
• Continue to refer to the critical lens during disciplinary training.
• Acquire and hone a variety of project management skills: science communication, writing skills, text analysis, critical debate, self-reflection, group work/management skills, negotiating different interdisciplinary perspectives, language skills.
Description:
The seminar “Colonialism, Imperialism, Fascism – The Legacies and Futures of Modern Space Exploration” is part of the regular course “Critical Outer Space Studies”, which is dedicated to the critical and humanities-based examination of space exploration. The aim of the course in the winter semester 2024/2025 is the critical examination and dissemination of knowledge about the historical contexts and contemporary continuities of colonial, imperial, and fascist narratives in modern space exploration.
In addition to a structured introduction and critical discussion of colonial, imperial, and fascist narratives of expansion and conquest, and their influence on modern space exploration, the course offers students a unique combination of research-based teaching, science communication, and collaboration with practice-oriented partners. Along with acquiring in-depth background knowledge on these topics, students will engage in a collaborative project with the external partner involved in the teaching project, Lewis Bush.
Lewis Bush is a British photographer, author, artist, and media scholar with extensive experience in exhibition work and curation. In addition to his direct involvement in the seminar, his work on the photo book Depravity’s Rainbow will be a central focus. This book provides a photographic journey through the early and contradictory history of modern space travel, exploring its roots in the fascist German Reich’s V2 program and its later technological reincarnation in NASA’s Apollo program. The volume centers around the life story of Wernher von Braun, who embodies the link between both programs. It connects his story with archival footage of the US space program as well as contemporary photographs (taken by Lewis Bush) of key sites in Germany where rocket technology took its first decisive steps during World War II. These photographs of partially forgotten places reveal how, despite being vaguely acknowledged, the fascist roots of modern space research—especially amid its resurgence in the private space industry—are widely underestimated and often invisible. Wernher von Braun himself represents how space exploration, often perceived as the pinnacle of human civilization and technological progress, is deeply rooted in militaristic and expansionist ambitions.
Students participating in the seminar will actively contribute to the conceptualization of a planned photo exhibition based on Depravity’s Rainbow in collaboration with Lewis Bush. The exhibition will take place at the Haus der Universität in Düsseldorf in April 2025 as part of the Night of Museums (Nacht der Museen). The seminar thus provides students with a unique opportunity to gain insight into various exhibition techniques, practical experience in creating accompanying texts and materials for public events, and the chance to prepare and present the seminar’s teaching and learning content to a wider audience.