College courses revolving around
Star Trek-related topics are nothing new, but in at least two institutions, their popularity is growing and
Trek's presence on the curriculum is expanding.
At College of Lake County (CLC) in Grayslake, Illinois, and at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) in Lake Tahoe, California, the anthropological and sociological aspects of Star Trek are examined in a variety of on-campus and on-line courses, as well as special academic events. Much of this has come about through a collaboration between LTCC professor Daryl Frazetti and CLC's John Tenuto.
One such event takes place next week, on April 2, at the Illinois school. Frazetti will be the guest lecturer at a public "charity talk" titled "Discussing Star Trek Fans." Frazetti will speak on topics including fan culture, fictional languages such as Klingon, his friendship with the late DeForest Kelley, and his study of Star Trek fan films. It will also be a fundraiser for two charities. In lieu of admission, attendees are asked to bring appropriate new or nearly new books, which will be donated to a local Reach Out and Read charity (www.reachoutandread.org) and Books for Africa (www.booksforafrica.org). There will also be a raffle of Trek-related items donated by the websites of celebrities such as Walter Koenig, Rene Auberjonois, Tim Russ , Roxann Dawson, Robert Picardo and Dominic Keating, as well as "Trekkies" director Roger Nygard. The items include autographed pictures and signed DVDs, and money raised from the raffle will go to the same charities. The event will be held Monday from 6-8 p.m. on the CLC campus at the James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, in the Mainstage Theatre. For more information (including directions), visit this CLC link. You can also contact Tenuto directly at (847) 543-2537 or jtenuto@clcillinois.edu.
On Friday, April 13, Tenuto will speak himself during CLC's 5th Annual Gender Conference at a session devoted to "Gender and Popular Culture." Tenuto's talk is titled "From Bjo Trimble to Starwars Chicks: Female Fans of Star Wars and Star Trek." Based on his research into fandom, the talk will focus on the historical role of women in the fan community, and discuss how media stereotypes of fans are often problematic. There will also be a comparison of male and female fans regarding their fan activities, and a comparison of "Star Wars" fans to Star Trek fans. Bjo Trimble — one of Trek fandom's most prominent figures — will not be in attendance herself, but she has provided Tenuto with comments and anecdotes to share. The session runs from 3:10 to 4:25 p.m. at the CLC Women's Center at the Grayslake campus. One-day registration for the general public is $50 (less if you register in advance). For more information visit the CLC Women's Center page (click on "Events Schedule" in the right column), or call (847) 543-2771.
Back in Tahoe, on May 16 Frazetti will hold a workshop during his school's "Multicultural Week." The discussion is titled "Teaching Acceptance and Diversity Through Star Trek," and will focus on Gene Roddenberry's multicultural vision "where in the 23rd and 24th centuries racism was seen as a regrettable error of the past" and how it teaches "acceptance and appreciation of differences in ethnicity, gender and physical abilities." The three-hour workshop will be held in the LTCC campus theater starting at noon on Wednesday, May 16, and is open to the public. The Multicultural Week events are free, but the schedule is subject to change. More information will be available starting around mid-April at the LTCC website — look for a link to "Multicultural Week." You can also contact Frazetti at frazetti@ltcc.edu.
At CLC in the current Spring semester, Tenuto's sociology class "Social Problems: The Star Trek Edition" filled up quicker than almost any other course on campus. In the Summer session Frazetti will be the guest instructor for "Cultural Anthropology: Star Trek Edition," held on-campus Monday and Wednesday evenings for six weeks starting June 25. "Using select television episodes and excerpts of feature films that span all five series, this course will examine the significance of the cultural, historical, social and evolutionary nature of the human condition within the context of a futuristic setting," reads the catalog. The course number is ANT 221-002. To learn more, visit www.clcillinois.edu, or contact Tenuto at the info shown above.
At LTCC, Frazetti started his "Anthropology of Star Trek" course on-campus last spring, then took it on-line last summer. That course will be offered online again this summer, so you don't need to live near Lake Tahoe to take it (although that'd be nice!). The Summer quarter runs from late June through August (he'll be conducting the online class while in Illinois). The Summer course listings are not yet posted on the website, www.ltcc.edu, so contact Frazetti if you're interested. The course number is ANT 131.
Frazetti tells us that his Star Trek anthropology course is so popular, there is a very good chance it'll become a permanent part of the curriculum at LTCC. If so, he will revamp the course a bit to ensure that it meets all the proper criteria for a California accredited class.
Last fall Frazetti also taught an online class in "Xenolinguistics" — which explored the languages of Romulan, Klingon, Tribble and other science-fiction races — and he expects to conduct that course again. He is also planning an anthropology course revolving around the "Lord of the Rings" mythology. Again, contact Frazetti if you're interested in any of these academic programs.
