Jigsaw Modules

FIU+UoB
Fiction-Science Institute


Summer 2024

FIU’s Science & Fiction Lab partners with University of Birmingham’s LANS Lab to offer the first transatlantic Fi-Sci Institute

 

The program at a glance:

Fi-Sci Faculty Fellows take part in an exciting initiative to interweave fiction and STEM. Working in interdisciplinary duos, fellows develop jigsaw modules that link their specializations by way of fi-sci analogies.

Mapping patterns
at the confluence of
fiction and science

Teams comprise one fellow who teaches humanities or humanistic social sciences, and one fellow who teaches in a STEM field. Fellows will individually implement their new jigsaw modules in their Fall 2024 courses.

Meet the Summer 2024 Cohort

FIU

FIU

FIU

UoB

UoB

UoB

  • Adjunct Lecturer @FIU

    Global and Sociocultural Studies

  • Lecturer @UoB

    Biosciences

Featuring workshops with celebrated guest speakers:

  • Ken Liu

    WRITER OF SPECULATIVE FICTION

    Read more

  • James Phelan, Ph.D.

    DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

    Read more

  • Anamika Prasad, Ph.D.

    ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL, MECHANICAL, AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

    Read more

  • Vandana Singh, Ph.D.

    WRITER OF SCIENCE FICTION; PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ENVIRONMENT, FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY

    Read more

  • Nick Sousanis, Ph.D.

    COMICS AUTHOR; ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES & LIBERAL STUDIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNVERITY

    Read more

The program in detail:

  • Innovate an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum by integrating fi-sci pattern mapping into courses across the university.

  • Fi-sci is an analytic framework that involves locating the pattern of a scientific phenomenon in a work of fiction. For instance, astrobiologists commonly refer to a circumstellar habitable area as the Goldilocks Zone, because the science and the fairy tale share a pattern: they both describe conditions that are "just right." Click here to explore more examples of pattern mapping across literature and STEM.

  • With “plug-and-play,” portable course content in the form of jigsaw modules (JMs). JMs are ready-to-go clusters of lessons that can be interpolated into pre-existing courses in any discipline.

  • Bundled in adaptable, self-contained units, intersections of fiction and science can transform the undergraduate classroom experience. We learn by analogy: understanding something new by connecting it to something already familiar. An interdisciplinary curriculum is like a welcome banner, encouraging visitors to make new, creative connections.


    The JM model gets interdisciplinarity into places where it would otherwise not exist. Without changing majors, declaring a new minor, or incurring excess credits hours, STEM students in fi-sci badge-adopting courses will have the opportunity to not only interface with the humanities, but assimilate humanistic approaches into their chosen disciplines. Whether they encounter the badge in a humanities course or a STEM course, STEM majors will gain exposure to the humanities that is not perfunctory, but rather fully entwined with their subject of study. Learning for humanities majors improves as well: they see their subject in a new light and observe how it intersects with other fields – what it can offer to the understanding of other subjects. This will enable them to discover novel applications for their humanistic expertise, which can translate into innovative job opportunities.

  • Over the course of the Fi-Sci Institute, fellows design original JMs at the intersections of fiction and STEM.

    In July fellows participate in four expert-led workshops that offer guidance about format and ideas for content.

    In Fall 2024, each fellow will implement their new JM by aligning it to one of their courses.

  • FIU and UoB faculty members interested in cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge, creative pedagogy.

  • Via Zoom, July 2024.

 

Institute Agenda

Explore Fi-Sci Modules Developed by Previous Cohorts

ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR
OF HISTORY; DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES, FIU

Alexandra Cornelius, Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES, FIU

Fahad Saeed, Ph.D.

ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY; FACULTY FELLOW, HONORS COLLEGE, FIU

Tigran Abrahamyan, Ph.D.

VISITING ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES; FACULTY FELLOW,
HONORS COLLEGE, FIU

Jeanette Smith, J.D.

Nicola Gavioli, Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR
OF PORTUGUESE, FIU

Sabyasachi Moulik, Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CELLULAR BIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY, FIU

PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS; DIRECTOR OF THE BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES INSTITUTE; FACULTY FELLOW, HONORS COLLEGE, FIU

Prem Chapagain, Ph.D.

Magda Novelli Pearson, Ph.D.

INSTRUCTOR OF ITALIAN AND ITALIAN
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, FIU

NEH

This program is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed with relation to this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.