Utopias, Apocalypses and Inventions

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Thursday April 6, 2006

9:00AM-5:00PM

Utopias, Apocalypses and Inventions

A Science Fiction Symposium- Georgetown University

Thursday April 6, 2006. French Department, ICC 425

Program

9:15-9:30 AM

9:30-9:45

9:45-11:00






11:00-11:15

11:15-12:30

Coffee

Welcome Remarks: Debbie Lesko Baker, Chair, Department of French

Session 1: Fiction

Moderator: Andrew Sobanet, Georgetown University, Department of French.

      • Shelley Temchin, Georgetown University, Department of French.

"Visions and voyages of Albert Robida"

      • Jean-Max Guieu, Georgetown University, Department of French.

"La Mort de la Terre (1908): L'Apocalypse selon J.-H. Rosny Aîné"

Coffee

Session 2: Imaginations

Moderator: Patrick Laude, Georgetown University, Department of French.

  • Jean-François Thibault, George Washington University, Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures.

"Voyage interstellaire dans la modernité: L'Eubage de Blaise Cendrars"

  • Guy Spielmann, Georgetown University, Department of French.

"De l'imagination à l'image: comment la bande dessinée a révolutionné la science-fiction

12:30-2:00 PM


2:00 - 3:15








3:15 - 3:30

Lunch/Movies: Le Voyage dans la Lune (Georges Méliès, 1902; 16 minutes); Paris qui Dort (René Clair, 1925; 32 minutes)

Session 3: Mutations

Moderator: Paul Young, Georgetown University, Department of French.

  • Miléna Santoro, Georgetown University, Department of French.

"Mutatis mutandis: Genetic manipulation and mutation in the novels of Elisabeth Vonarburg"

  • Elisabeth Vonarburg

"Lecture et discussion avec l'auteure"

Refreshments

3:30 – 4: 45








4:45

Session 4: Visions

Moderator: Roger Bensky, Georgetown University, Department of French.

  • Pierre Verdaguer, University of Maryland, Department of French and Italian.
  • "Hypertropolis: Paris (et autres tristes villes) au XXe siècle"
  • Andrew Sobanet, Georgetown University, Department of French.
  • "Natural Women: René Barjavel’s Pétainist Utopia"

Closing Reception

This Conference is Free and Open to the General Public

This conference has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Department of French and the E. Joseph McCarthy Fund

Special thanks to Julie Lee, Prof. Farima Mostowfi, Christina Donnelly, Patricia Garcia and Tim Wilson