Science Fiction Symposium at Tel-Aviv University

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is with disappointment that we announce the cancellation of our 2020 Science Fiction Symposium at Tel Aviv University (initially planned for March, then postponed).

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, in which reality has become more and more similar to the science-fiction stories we read, discuss, analyze and write. Nevertheless, we’ve tried our best to make this year’s international Science Fiction Symposium, our seventh annual event, take place in some capacity, but we have concluded that the best route currently is to cancel and move on to make other, new plans for the future.

We would like to thank you – scholars, participants, audience members and followers of the Symposium – for your continued support and interest in our academic event. Please keep your eye on this page: we'll be sure to keep you updated on any future endeavors and plans for 2021, so stay tuned.

Best,
The TAU Science Fiction Symposium Organizing Committee

While we are still unable to meet and exchange our SF ideas in real life, we're happy to share with you an exciting new podcast! The Posthuman Condition is a (Hebrew-languge) podcast on technology and culture, created and hosted by Dr. Carmel Vaisman, our friend and colleague, and a former keynote speaker at the Science Fiction Symposium.

The first episode deals with science fiction's inability to imagine a future, and it features our very own Prof. Elana Gomel as a special guest. Listen here >> https://absolutecarmel.com/2020/06/27/ep1/?fbclid=IwAR3vSeVDzMFJhuBAyKvTEoFCLPwSJrFUMFoQzMT0O-Bm8lkzfZrI2x0Q1Ac

הפרק הראשון של הפודקאסט סוף סוף באוויר ואני מקוה שתאהבו אותו כפי שאני אהבתי להכין אותו ולמי שמכיר את פרופ' אילנה גומל נראה לי שתשמעו ממנה כמה דברים לא צפויים בפרק הזה... זה עדיין לא התעדכן בכל אפליקציות הפודקאסטים, נראה שהאלגוריתמים של גוגל ואפל לוקחים את הזמן שלהם, אבל בתגובות יש לכם לינקים להאזין ביוטיוב, ספוטיפיי, באתר הבית של הפודקאסט בפודבין (שם יש גם לינק לרסס ולהורדה ישירה של הקובץ), ואם אתם מעדיפים לקרוא במקום/לצד האזנה, יש גם לינק לוורדפרס. אני אשמח לשמוע מכם תגובות גם לתוכן וגם משוב טכני. האזנה נעימה!

*** UPDATE: event now cancelled, see here: https://www.facebook.com/tauSFsymposium/photos/a.986245604866011/1758729397617624/?type=3&theater ***

We are sorry to announce that the 7th international Science Fiction Symposium, At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction, has been postponed due to recent developments relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. We had hoped to still hold the event in some capacity under current conditions, but this is no longer feasible.

Delaying the Symposium has been a last resort for us, one we did our best to avoid. Following a directive from Israel's Ministry of Health, it is highly likely Tel-Aviv University authorities will decide to only allow TAU students and faculty to enter the campus - a decision that hinders any and all international events. No alternatives remain open to us at this time, though we hope and believe the spread of the virus will eventually be contained, and that international travel and gatherings will again be made safe and easy for everyone involved.

The 7th Science Fiction Symposium will be held at Tel-Aviv University on the 26th and 27th of October 2020.

We apologize for any inconvenience this last-minute change may cause, and hope that you will be able to attend the Symposium in the fall. We will continue to keep you updated with any developments. Thank you for your understanding and for your continued support - it is greatly appreciated!

Since 2014, the Science Fiction Symposium has been an annual event at Tel Aviv University. Founded by a handful of graduate students from the English department and sponsored by senior faculty member Prof. Elana Gomel, our Symposium has always been a place for innovative and diverse academic discussions, immensely popular with both scholars and aficionados of the genre.

Through the years, the SF Symposium has grown: it was expanded into a two-day event, and became an international conference, drawing scholars not only from every university in Israel, but also international scholars from across the world. We hosted keynote speakers like the renowned SF author and scholar Adam Roberts, and held a panel of Israeli SF authors, discussing the local history of the genre, as well as its present and future. Papers presented in our Symposia were later collected into two books: Science Fiction beyond Borders (2016), and New Forms of Space and Spatiality in Science Fiction (2019), published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Every year, the Symposium has oriented itself around particular concepts – time, bodies, borders, space, and memory. This year, the 2020 Science Fiction Symposium will deal with the topic of hybridity, discussing how the SF genre blends, mutates, and synthesizes different ideas, concepts, and stories.
Join us for the 7th annual, international Science Fiction Symposium on March 16-17, 2020, at Tel Aviv University, Gilman building, room 496. For all the details and the full program >> At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction

CFP: The Routledge Companion to Gender and Science Fiction
Deadline: March 15, 2020

Did you know that the TAU Science Fiction Symposium has so far produced two books?

The Science Fiction Symposium has published two edited collections with articles based on talks that were given in previous SF Symposia. Gender, utopia, posthumanism and the Anthropocene are just some of the topics discussed in these collections, now available to purchase.

The two books were published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing - see the full details and purchasing information in the following links.

New Forms of Space and Spatiality in Science Fiction, 2019:
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/new-forms-of-space-and-spatiality-in-science-fiction
Science Fiction beyond Borders, 2016:
https://www.cambridgescholars.com/science-fiction-beyond-borders

Call for Papers: The Science Fiction Research Association invites proposals for its 2020 annual conference, to be held on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, on the theme: Forms of Fabulation.

Deadline for submissions: March 15 2020.
See the full CFP here: http://www.sfra.org/2020-Call-for-Papers

SFRA 2020 CFP is now available!
Forms of Fabulation
Abstracts due: March 15 2020

See www.SFRA.org for details.

In case you missed it - our event page for the next Science Fiction Symposium is now up >> At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction

The 7th annual Science Fiction Symposium is coming in a little over a month - is it in your calendars?
See our event page for all the details and the full program >> At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction

On the 16th and 17th of March 2020 we will meet at Tel-Aviv University for two days of fascinating and exciting academic discussions on the topic of hybridity and science fiction, with scholars from all over the world. We will explore hybrid identities and cultures in SF, examine how SF intermingles with other literary genres, and discuss classic literary works alongside new SF television and film, as well as video games and comics.

Mark yourself "Going" and invite your friends so they don't miss this once-in-a-year occasion!

Image: The Congress (2013) dir. Ari Folman

The 7th annual Science Fiction Symposium is coming in a little over a month - is it in your calendars?
See our event page for all the details and the full program >> At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction

On the 16th and 17th of March 2020 we will meet at Tel-Aviv University for two days of fascinating and exciting academic discussions on the topic of hybridity and science fiction, with scholars from all over the world. We will explore hybrid identities and cultures in SF, examine how SF intermingles with other literary genres, and discuss classic literary works alongside new SF television and film, as well as video games and comics.

Mark yourself "Going" and invite your friends so they don't miss this once-in-a-year occasion!

Image: The Congress (2013) dir. Ari Folman

We are now happy to share with you the program for At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction - our next, 7th annual international Science Fiction Symposium!

Join us on the 16th and 17th of March 2020 at Tel-Aviv University, Gilman building, room 496, for two full days of panels, lectures, and discussions on the concept of hybridity in science fiction. We will look at hybrid identities and cultures in SF, examine how SF intermingles with other literary genres, and discuss classic literary works alongside new SF television and film, as well as video games and comics.

Entrance is free and open to the public - there is no need to register in advance. We hope to see you there!

See the full program in higher quality here (PDF):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/276je518fd00qaq/SF%20Symposium%202020%20Program.pdf?dl=0
Design by Anat Karolin
Image from the 2013 film "The Congress"

Save the date!
At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction - the 7th International Science Fiction Symposium at Tel-Aviv University - will take place on the 16th and 17th of March, 2020.

We will meet in Gilman building, room 496, for two full days of panels, lectures, and discussions on the topic of hybridity in the SF genre.
See the full program here:
https://www.facebook.com/tauSFsymposium/posts/1555335027957063?notif_id=1580029918768087

Here it is!

Our copies of New Forms of Space and Spatiality in Science Fiction have arrived! Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, this new book is an innovative and inspiring collection of essays based on presentations from one of our past Science Fiction Symposia, and edited by us, the SF Symposium's organizers.

We're excited for this and for future publications. Keep following us for updates on our next events!

For more information and to purchase the book: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/new-forms-of-space-and-spatiality-in-science-fiction

We are very happy to announce the release of our new book: New Forms of Space and Spatiality in Science Fiction, from Cambridge Scholars Publishing!

Edited by members of the Science Fiction Symposium Organizing Committee (Dr. Shawn Edrei, Chen F. Michaeli, and Orin Posner), this volume is a collection of essays adapted from papers presented at our 2018 Symposium - In/Out: Forms of Space in Science Fiction.

This book now joins our previous publication, Science Fiction beyond Borders, published in 2016 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing and featuring papers presented at our 2014 and 2015 Symposia. We are excited for what will come next!

Follow this link for more information and to order the book, and ask your library to add it to their collection: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/new-forms-of-space-and-spatiality-in-science-fiction

There are only a few days left to submit proposals for our next symposium!

CALL FOR PAPERS
At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction
16-17 March 2020, Tel-Aviv University
Deadline for Submissions: 31 October, 2019

We are pleased to announce the 7th International Symposium on the Poetics of Science Fiction, hosted by the Department of English and American Studies and the Porter School of Cultural Studies at Tel-Aviv University.
The upcoming conference will take place on the 16th and 17th of March 2020, on the topic of hybridity: cyborgs, mutations, liminal spaces, post- and transhumanism, hybrid genres, multimedia, and more. We look forward to your proposals!

See the full CFP here: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/07/01/at-the-crossroads-hybridity-in-science-fiction

Proposals of up to 300 words for individual papers and/or panels are to be submitted alongside a short bio to [email protected] by October 31, 2019.

[image by Yuumei]

Less than a month left to submit proposals!

CALL FOR PAPERS
At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction
16-17 March 2020, Tel-Aviv University

Deadline for submissions: 31 October 2019

Submit your proposals to the seventh Science Fiction Symposium at Tel-Aviv University, which will be held next year on the theme of hybridity in the SF genre. Mutations, posthumanity, multimedia, hybrid genres and much more - we are open to your proposals for papers to be presented in this international academic event.

See the full CFP here: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/07/01/at-the-crossroads-hybridity-in-science-fiction

Proposals of up to 300 words for individual papers and/or panels are to be submitted alongside a short bio to [email protected] by October 31, 2019.

Have you started working on your abstracts?
Don't forget, the deadline for submissions for our next symposium is the 31st of October, 2019!
See the full CFP here: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/07/01/at-the-crossroads-hybridity-in-science-fiction

CALL FOR PAPERS
At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction
16-17 March 2020, Tel-Aviv University
Deadline for Submissions: 31 October, 2019

We are pleased to announce the 7th International Symposium on the Poetics of Science Fiction, hosted by the Department of English and American Studies and the Porter School of Cultural Studies at Tel-Aviv University.
The upcoming conference will take place on the 16th and 17th of March 2020, on the topic of hybridity: cyborgs, mutations, liminal spaces, post- and transhumanism, hybrid genres, multimedia, and more. We look forward to your proposals!

See the full CFP here: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/07/01/at-the-crossroads-hybridity-in-science-fiction

Proposals of up to 300 words for individual papers and/or panels are to be submitted alongside a short bio to [email protected] by October 31, 2019.

[image by Yuumei]

CALL FOR PAPERS
At the Crossroads: Hybridity in Science Fiction
16-17 March 2020, Tel-Aviv University
Deadline for Submissions: 31 October, 2019

We are pleased to announce the 7th International Symposium on the Poetics of Science Fiction, hosted by the Department of English and American Studies and the Porter School of Cultural Studies at Tel-Aviv University.
The upcoming conference will take place on the 16th and 17th of March 2020, on the topic of hybridity: cyborgs, mutations, liminal spaces, post- and transhumanism, hybrid genres, multimedia, and more. We look forward to your proposals!

See the full CFP here: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2019/07/01/at-the-crossroads-hybridity-in-science-fiction

Proposals of up to 300 words for individual papers and/or panels are to be submitted alongside a short bio to [email protected] by October 31, 2019.

[image by Yuumei]

Next week at Bar-Ilan University:
Posthumanism scholar Prof. Katherine Hayles will give a lecture titled "Can Computers Create Meaning? A Bio-Cyber-Semiotic Perspective"

Tuesday 28.5, 14:00, room 9, building 902 (psychology), Bar-Ilan Campus.

Check out this new book review in the MOSF Journal of Science Fiction for the edited collection Cityscapes of the Future: Urban Spaces in Space, Consciousness, Literature and the Arts >> https://publish.lib.umd.edu/scifi/article/view/629

Co-edited by our very own Meyrav Koren-Kuik and Yael Maurer, the 2018 book Cityscapes of the Future explores spatial theory, urban studies, and the science fiction imagination.

After another successful Symposium last month, we've decided we'd like to stay in contact with our participants, and keep discussing different topics and ideas. And so we've started a new Facebook group, for our participants and audience members.

Once a year we hold a Symposium featuring wonderful and fascinating talks, panels, round tables, and plenary speakers - but between events, we would like to keep in touch and keep the conversation going throughout the year: raise questions and ideas, let each other know about interesting publications, opportunities or events, and stay connected until the next Science Fiction Symposium in Tel-Aviv!

Join the group and continue the discussion >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/1132820576925986/

Thanks to the Sourasky Central Library for hosting yesterday's wonderful event on Cities of the Future in Literature and Film!
We've heard fascinating talks from various speakers, including members of our very own SF Symposium organizing committee.

מפגש מרתק שהתקיים אתמול בספרייה בנושא ערי העתיד בספרות ובקולנוע.
בצילום: יונתן דורטהיימר, ארז דבורה, ד"ר יעל מאורר, מירב קורן-קאוק ופרופ' אילנה גומל שפתחה את המפגש.

Today!

This week, join us for lectures on Cities of the Future in Literature and Film, in Sourasky Central Library!

We will hear from Prof. Elana Gomel, Dr. Yael Maurer, Meyrav Koren-Kuik, as well as from Jonathan Dortheimer and Erez Dvora.

Join us on Wednesday 27.3 at 17:30, in the Wiener library, Gross-Wiener building, floor B.
For more information and registration >> https://cenlib.tau.ac.il/Events/Sourasky-Library-lecture-Cityscapes-of-the-future

On the second day of our 2019 Symposium, Raz Greenberg of the Hebrew University spoke on Israeli SF history and discussed Avi Katz’s illustrations for The Tenth Dimension, a literary journal published by the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy.

For those interested, you can see all the Tenth Dimension covers by Avi Katz on his website here >> http://avikatz.net/sf/meimad/index.htm

We're happy to invite you to an event on Cities of the Future in Literature and Film, organized by the Sourasky Central Library at Tel-Aviv University, and featuring some of our distinguished organizing committee members!

See you there! This Wednesday at 17:30, in the Wiener library (Gross-Wiener building, floor B).

This week, join us for lectures on Cities of the Future in Literature and Film, in Sourasky Central Library!

We will hear from Prof. Elana Gomel, Dr. Yael Maurer, Meyrav Koren-Kuik, as well as from Jonathan Dortheimer and Erez Dvora.

Join us on Wednesday 27.3 at 17:30, in the Wiener library, Gross-Wiener building, floor B.
For more information and registration >> https://cenlib.tau.ac.il/Events/Sourasky-Library-lecture-Cityscapes-of-the-future

Thank you all for two incredible days of talking, listening, asking, mingling - and reminding us all why we love this genre, and why we're doing what we're doing.

Pictured are the 2019 Science Fiction Symposium organizing committee, who have worked tirelessly to make it all happen.